104 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOLRINAL. 



Feb. 11, 1904. 



directly to the party whose name appears on the cases. We 

 have adopted the plan of giving every member of our Asso- 

 ciation a number, and putting that number on each of his 

 cases, instead of his name. 



Mr. Porter — Variation in size of shipping-cases makes 

 a great difference in loading a car. 



A committee, consisting of Messrs. Gill, Rhodes, Booth, 

 and Aikin, were appointed to bear the condolence and sym- 

 pathy of the State Association to E. Milleson, a former 

 president of the Association, who has been confined to bed 

 for five weeks as the result of a fall. 



SELF-SPACING BROOD-FRAMKS. 



" How many prefer self-spacing frames in the brood- 

 chamber ?" 



(Many in favor; two opposed.) 



Mr. Morehouse— I voted against them, but I have not 

 much choice. If you fill a hive with self-spacing frames, 

 and there is no follower, it is hard to get the first frame out. 



H. Rauchfuss — If Mr. Morehouse will leave a space in 

 the first place, he will still have that space. In hiving 

 swarms on non-self-spacing frames, and carrying the hives 

 afterward to their position, the frames may shift a little, 

 and one may forget to space them again. 



Chas. Adams — That's the only advantage the self-spac- 

 ing frames have, and that covers the whole subject. 



Mr. Morehouse — I make my hives enough narrower to 

 leave no space for a follower. 



Chas. Adams — There are four different widths of hives 

 in use. 



Mr. Porter— I planed the edges off of my Hoffman 

 frames last spring. I would rather have a few frames get 

 out of place than to have the Hoffman frames. 



Mr. Aikin — When you put a follower in an 8-frame dove- 

 tailed hive there is room for another, and nearly enough for 

 another frame. But in Lewis' 10-frame hives the followers 

 go in too tight. The 10-frame hives can be manipulated 

 without a follower, but the 8-frame hives must have them. 

 I would put out a follower that would stand a little prying. 

 The Root followers are thin, ilimsy things that are ready 

 for kindling the first time they are used. The ends of the 

 Hoffman frames should run far enough to rest on the rab- 

 bets on all occasions. I want long top-bars. 



F. Rauchfuss — In the 10-frame hive a division-board is 

 furnished, but it is not intended to be used with the full 

 number of frames. Two little sticks are furnished with the 

 Lewis hive for nailing at the ends of one side, and if they 

 are in you can't get the division-board in. 



Mr. Working— My difficulty is in getting both kinds of 

 frames mixed. I would prefer uniformity, whichever kind 

 the frames are. 



Mr. Gill— As soon as the follower is left out the Hoff- 

 man feature is lost. If the Hoffman frame is used, by all 

 means use the follower. 



INCREASB MBTHOD— INTRODUCING QUEEN TO QUEENLESS 

 COLONY. 



"What is the best and cheapest method of making in- 

 crease ?" 



Mr. Spencer — Natural swarming is the best method of 

 increase. 



" In introducing a queen to a queenless colony, which 

 will produce the best results, a queen laying to her full 

 capacity or a young queen just beginning to lay, the queens 

 having been received by mail ?" 



A Member — It varies according to the season. 



WORKER-COMBS FROM STARTERS. 



"Can nice worker-combs be secured by the use of start- 

 ers only?" 



H. Rauchfuss — That is the only way to get a good 

 comb, though fairly good combs may be had with founda- 

 tion. 



Mr. Gill — Eastern editors claim nice combs are impos- 

 sible without foundation. But with starters I get more per- 

 fect combs. The rows of cells near the top-bar are not 

 elongated as with foundation. I never had any trouble 

 when the conditions were normal, and don't see why it can't 

 be done. Many people hive a little, incomplete swarm, and, 

 of course, they fill out the hive with drone-comb. The 

 combs should be built while the incentive for comb-building 

 is to get workers only. If there is storage-room in the 

 super, 95 percent of the honey will be stored there. If the 

 swarms are not large enough, put several together. 



Mr. Henthorne— I always used full sheets of foundation 

 in the East, and so did all the other bee-keepers. We 

 thought there was no other way to do. I worked for Mr. 



Gill last summer, and made 400 increase, and could not be- 

 lieve my own eyes at the results. 



Mr. Jouno — If the hive is turned end for end after small 

 pieces of comb are built in the ends of the frames, will the 

 bees fill it out with worker-comb ? 



Mr. Spencer — My experience is, a small swarm is just 

 as apt to start in one corner as another. There is no differ- 

 ence. 



Mr. Aikin — Mr. Doolittle has often explained in the 

 bee-papers how it is simply a matter of conditions. It de- 

 pends upon the age of the queen and the condition of the 

 colony. Mr. Gill is correct. You can hive a swarm on 

 starters and have nice worker-comb. If you remove a comb 

 from a colony in the spring, the bees will build drone-comb 

 in its place ; but those same bees, if they are made to start 

 entirely anew, and build all their combs, will build nearly 

 every bit worker-comb. It is simply a matter of the right 

 conditions. For every comb built from foundation I have 

 had 100 built from starters. I have never succeeded in get- 

 ting full, nice combs from foundation in hot weather. But 

 if you follow Doolittle's directions you will get nice worker- 

 comb. If the queen is old, perhaps after five worker-combs 

 are built, the sixth will be drone-comb ; but if the queen is 

 young, it will probably be worker. 



H. Rauchfuss — If I were running for extracted honey I 

 would use full sheets of foundation, wired ; but in produc- 

 ing comb honey I prefer starters. For extracting, founda- 

 tion makes a stiff comb that will not break in the extractor. 

 I would not use self-spacing frames for extracting, but 

 eight ordinary frames in a lOframe chamber. One can not 

 uncap conveniently a comb that has a wide top-bar, and the 

 wide top-bar leaves a space between the wire-screen of the 

 extractor and the comb that breaks the comb when it is 

 whirled around. Therefore, for extracting the narrow top- 

 bar is better. 



WRAPPING HIVES WITH TAR PAPER IN WINTER. 



" Would you advise to wrap in winter your hives with 

 tar paper, whcE the moisture creeps in through the different 

 brood-chambers ? I use two brood-chambers — the Heddon 

 hive." 



Mr. Jouno — I wrapped some hives in tar paper and 

 banked the paper with earth around the bottom, and found 

 the combs wet and moldy when the paper was taken off. 

 But if the hives were set above the ground, so there would 

 be a free current of air under the hives, it might make a 

 difference. 



Mr. Spencer — I object to it theoretically. In this climate 

 it is hardly a week when the sun does not shine, and the 

 paper would keep the sun from warming the hives. 



H. Rauchfuss — That does not apply to tar paper, for it 

 gets so hot in the sun that you can hardly keep your hand 

 on it. 



W.\x-RENDERING EXPERIENCES. 



Pres. Harris — Perhaps Mr. Rauchfuss will tell us how 

 hot it made his honey-house. 



H. Rauchfuss- 'That was not tar paper, but building 

 paper. I had 15 pounds of wax melting on the stove in the 

 honey-house, over water. The fire got low, and I put some 

 more coal on and went in to dinner ; some one called out 

 that the honey-house was on fire. When I got there the 

 flames had already traveled along the ceiling and reached 

 the opposite side of the room. Thinking that room was 

 lost, I rushed around on the outside to another entrance, to 

 save something else. Just then my assistant, Mr. Steele, 

 entered the room with a bucket of water, closed the door 

 behind him, and dashed the water on the hot stove. The 

 flames went out all over the room like a flash, choked by 

 the steam. One should never attempt to melt wax without 

 a double can. 



Mr. Porter — I always boil wax out-of-doors. I have the 

 tank in a brick furnace, so that it has a space around for 

 the heat to envelop it. It is much more economical than a 

 stove. 



Mr. Gill — It is just as likely that one would set fire to 

 his house, if he melted wax in the house. Years ago I had 

 just such an experience in my shop, which had 1200 supers 

 in it at the time. I put the fire out in the same way. Here- 

 after I will melt wax out-of-doors. 



[Coatinued next wpek.) 



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