Jan. 28, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



71 



well there on Lang-stroth frames ; if they winter at all they 

 are very little good for surplus. I am thinking of usinj; a 

 sectional hive, each body to measure 13x13'. by 7'^ inches 

 deep, inside measure ; it would give about the same comb- 

 surface as the 9*4 -inch Langstroth frames for the two sec- 

 tions. I would winter the bees on the two bodies, or more 

 if needed. There are plenty of bees in the woods, as I have 

 cut trees there that had over 300 pounds of honey each. The 

 super would take 21 4'+ -inch sections. Would that be sur- 

 face enough ? I do not intend to produce much section 

 honey, mostly chunk and extracted. Would such a hive do 

 for that kind of honey? I can make each section of hive 1 

 inch deeper — 8?4 ; would it be advisable, or is 7ji deep 

 enough ? 



What do you think of me getting Carniolan queens and 

 using to build up with, and then Italianize? 



If you do not think my hive would do, what would 

 you advise ? I want one size, and one only, as I know what 

 different sizes in one yard mean — vexation. 



New York. 



Answer. — You are right in saying that frames of dif- 

 ferent sizes in the same apiary are a " vexation." To some 

 extent also there is always danger of vexation from having 

 a frame of different size from what others are using, and 

 you will do well to do some hard thinking as to whether 

 your own " get up " of hive and frame will be enough better 

 to warrant you in blazing a path of your own. 



Do you know that Langstroth frames would not work 

 well for wintering in the cellar ? and are you sure that win- 

 tering in the cellar is not best in that locality ? However, 

 the hive you mention would work all right for chunk or ex- 

 tracted honey, as would also others. 



A surface for 21 sections would work well, although 

 rather small. 



If you use frames shallow enough to require two stor- 

 ies, you will probably do well not to have them so deep as 

 8^4 inches. 



It would hardly be advisable to build up one kind of bees 

 and then change to another. Start at first with the kind 

 that you think will suit you best 



Color of Goldenrod and Aster Honey. 



I would suggest with regard to New Hampshire's sam- 

 ple of honey (page 10), that it might be wild-aster honey. 

 Such honey is water-white and of good flavor. My bees, in 

 September, carried in much of such honey. It was the first 

 that I had ever had, that I am aware of . I have kept bees 

 only since 1896. This past fall the wild aster in this section 

 bloomed in great profusion, even after the first light frost, 

 and the bees worked on it as they do on buckwheat. 



Missouri. 



This is something new to me. I have always had the 

 impression that asters, goldenrod, and most other fall 

 flowers gave dark honey. Asters and goldenrod are plenti- 

 ful here, but the bees seem to pay little attention to them, 

 so I have not had any chance to become familiar with honey 

 of that kind. 



Horizontal Hive for Out-Aplary and Extracted Honey. 



Although I have handled bees as a side-line for a num- 

 ber of years, with varied results, I am comparatively a ten- 

 der-foot. I use 8-frame dovetail hives, and work for comb 

 honey, but my bees have increased beyond the requisite 

 number to hold in one apiary, and obtain best results, 

 and wishing to start an out-apiary, run for extracted honey, 

 with the least possible increase and attendance, and hav- 

 ing seen a plan suggested in an eastern farm journal, and 

 wishing to consult some person with more experience than 

 myself, I submit said plan for your consideration and com- 

 ment. It is as follows : 



Hive-bodies to hold 20 brood-frames, running crosswise 

 of the body, the frames and bees being transferred from the 

 old hive to the new, and closed up behind with followers 

 until the honey-flow, when the extra space is filled with 

 combs or foundation. Only one story is used — no tiering 

 up. Do you think such plan practical to attain desired re- 

 sults ? If so, when would you advise transferring and 

 moving ? Any other suggestion or plan you might think 

 better will be highly appreciated. Iowa. 



Answer. — A horizontal hive, such as you mention, is 

 somewhat largely used in Europe, and to a limited extent 



in this country, where it is called the Long Ideal hive. O. O. 

 Poppleton, one of the successful veterans, after many years' 

 experience with them, is a strong advocate of such hives. 

 Whether you would like them as well as 8 or 10 frame hives, 

 tiered up to make the same capacity, is a question not easily 

 determined without actual trial. Your wise course would 

 be not to try more than two or three of them the first year. 

 It will be most convenient for you to move colonies to the 

 new apiary in the 8-frame hives, transferring the frames 

 into the larger hives as soon as the 8-frames begin to seem 

 in danger of being crowded. Then, trying them side by 

 side, you can better determine whether it will suit you best 

 to use a hive containing 20 frames, or 8-frame hives three 

 stories high. If you expect to do much moving of colonies, 

 you must figure on the difificulties of moving such large 

 hives. 



aueen-Cages and Introdnclns Qneens. 



1. On page 248 of your " Forty Years Among the Bees." 

 you say, under substituting queen-cells — the first thing is 

 to provisions a number of queen-cages with the usual queen- 

 candy, tacking a piece of pasteboard on the end of the plug. 

 Is not this candy intended for the bees to liberate the queen 

 when she is out of the cell by gnawing out this candy ? If 

 this is the case, then what is the pasteboard for ? 



2. Do you put the cell in the cage any way just so the 

 lower end is free, or do you use care to place it in a certain 

 position ? 



These question may appear somewhat out of season, 

 but I am beginning to get things ready for next season's 

 work and reading up on queen-rearing, I find that I do not 

 quite understand you. Missouri. 



Answers. — 1. The object of the pasteboard is to make 

 the bees longer in getting into the cage. In most cases it 

 is probably not necessary. Indeed, in many cases it might 

 not be necessary even to have the candy, because for some 

 reason the bees seem less inclined to tear down a cell in a 

 cage than when it is freely exposed on the comb. 



2. The cell is put in any way that comes handy, just so 

 the point is clear for the young queen to get out of the cell. 



Your questions are altogether timely ; for it is a good 

 way to have your plans made in advance. It would have 

 been a great privation to me if all my life I had been de- 

 prived of the pleasure of planning in winter what was to be 

 done the following summer. 





Nasty's Afterthoughts 





The " Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hastt, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



MESQDITK — HOI,Y LAND BEES. 



In that remarkable quartette of pictures on page 785, we 

 see a mesqulte grove. Isn't it the first view we have had of 

 this remarkable semi-desert shrub 7 Hardly looks as my 

 fancy would have pictured it. 



"The three people who are proving to us that Holy Land 

 bees sometimes are clever — well, they think they are smart. 

 " Sometimes " is a big word with any race of bees. And 

 such pictures do not prove nearly so much as the general 

 public would infer from them. 'Spects it would be within 

 the limits of possibility to illustrate Funics or Egyptians, 

 or any other hot-footed race, with just such pictures. 



HONEY AS CANE-SUGAR ALREADY DIGESTED. 



Remarkable sentence of Dr. Kellogg's : "Digestion of 

 cane-sugar converts it into honey, so honey is practically 

 cane-sugar already digested. " I would suggest that we do 

 not crow too much over this till we see what the multitude 

 of other authorities say to it. Will they say it's right, or 

 nearly right, or will they hammer it badly ? 



Much experimenting with my invalid self on this point 

 (with preferences in favor of honey to start with), persist- 

 ently turns out about like this : Six ounces of honej' eaten 

 at one time, or six ounces of granulated sugar eaten at one 

 time — the sugar agrees with my stomach fully as well as 

 the honey, and harmonizes with other food previously eaten 

 better. I would be glad if it turned out the other way. Won't 



