May 12, 1904, 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



341 



in bee-culture. In the production of oomli honey I do not now ^l^e 

 the queen-excluder, as I have not been troubled by the queen enleriii;; 

 the surplus cases. 



K. S. LovEST (Utah) — I would not use queen-excluding honcj - 

 boards in running for extracted honey, because I can average inuie 

 honey to the colony without them. 



Pkof. a. J. Cook (Calif, i— I would, unless the thick top-bars of 

 my frames made it unnecessary. I would keep queens below. I have 

 been very pleased with such honey-boards. 



G. M. DooLiTxr.E (N. Y.) — For comb honey, no. Because there 

 is not enough advantage gained by their use to overcome the disaii- 

 vantageof cost, storage, and labor required. 



L ST.iCHELHAUSEN (Tex.)— I do DOt use queen-excludlng honey- 

 lioards except tor certain purposes. They are a hindrance for the 

 bees, and reduce the honey crop more or less; in some oases consid- 

 erable. 



Dr. C. C. Miller (111.) — Not usually. It is so seldom that a 

 queen goes up into the sections that it wouldn't pay for the cost and 

 trouble of using. If working for extracted honey, I should use them 

 to keep the queen down. 



S. T. Pettit (Ont.) — Yes, for taking both extracted and comb. 

 To keep both queen and drones out of the supers. And I predict all 

 progressive bee-keepers will, in the near future, when they have 

 studied the drone a little more closely. 



J. M. Hambauoh (Calif.) — In running to extracting, no, for Cali- 

 fornia, where our harvest lasts two, three, and sometimes four mouths, 

 as it would dwarf the colony by restricting the queen. In running 

 for comb honey I would use the queen-excluders. 



Jas. a. Stone (111.) — I would only use queen-excluding boards 

 when using brood-frames above for extracted honey. Because in pro- 

 ducing comb honey for 35 years I can only call to mind one or two 

 cases in which the queen has gone to the upper story. 



Wm. Rohrio (Ariz.) — In the production of extracted honey, yes. 

 With their use we are not bothered with brood in the extracting-- 

 combs. Years of experience have taught me that as much honey can 

 be produced with their use as without, and with much less labor. 



C. H. Dibbers (III.) — I would use the wood-zioc queen-exclud- 

 ing honey-boards. They keep the queen from laying eggs, and the 

 bees from depositing pollen, in the sections. The bees, too, are not so 

 inclined to use wax from old combs to seal the sections with, causing 

 " travel-stain." 



Mrs. J. M. Null (Mo.) — No. I think queen-excluding zinc oft- 

 times oversteps legitimate bounds — sort o' overdoes things; in short, 

 gets quite too exclusive, inasmuch as not a few of the workers or 

 "common people" of the hive are denied a free and unobstructed 

 passage through its use. 



C. P. Dadant (111.) — I might use them if the hive was small, and 

 comb honey the product; but I would not use them for extracting, 

 because when we extract it is of minor importance to keep the queen 

 out of the super. With large brood-chambers the queen goes rarely 

 into the supers, anyhow. 



E. E. Hasty (Ohio)— For extracted honey, excluders ought to be 

 compelled by law — shame that common-sense of decency does not 

 compel them without. For comb. I'd start in without them, and add 

 them afterward if experience showed that I must. E.xcluder fastened 

 to the super without a separate board is my choice. 



E. WiiiTCOMB (Nebr.) — Yes. Either for comb or extracted honey 

 I would use the queen-excluding honey-board. Good and prolilic 

 queens are too liable to get into the upper story, especially if we use 

 the S-frame hive. With the larger hives the queen is not apt to 

 wander so far from home and to begin business in another county, as 

 it were. 



J. A. Green (Colo.) — Yes. Because the most profitable produc- 

 tion of comb honey requires a contracted brood-chamber at times. 

 Without a queen-excluder the queen will often go up into the sections. 

 Besides, almost all of my colonies are, at one time or another during 

 the season, run for extracted honey. This requires a queen-excluder, 

 as I would not think of being bothered with brood in the extractiug- 

 combs. 



R. C. AiKiN (Colo.) — I would most certainly use queen-excluders 

 with extracted-honey hives. If you do not, there will be altogether 

 too much brood in the extra, and, worst of all, it will be there most 

 likely when you want to extract. You can not get bees out of a cham- 

 ber with brood as you can from honey only. Of all provoking things 

 one of the worst is the brood-nest in an extracting super. I do some- 

 times put brood in a super, but when I put it there I know all about 

 it, and do it at the right time — not so with a queen. 



With the Langstroth hives run for comb honey use a slat honey- 

 board. Its almost sole purpose is to catch the burr-combs that come 

 up from brood-combs, and it will surelj' do it, and is necessary for 

 that purpose. With shallow hives for comb honey, use a queen- 

 excluder, because you will I'e almost sure to want to crowd hard, con- 

 tracting the brood-chamber to get all the honey into the super, and 

 sometimes you will want to put brood above a super for a few days; 

 and will want to confine the queen to either the top or bottom of the 

 brood-chamber. For these and other reasons use queen-excluders 

 with divisible brood-chamber hives. Still, for comb honey alone, very 

 good results may be had with the slat-board. 





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Extracting, Selling, and Liquefying Honey. 



BY G. C. GREINER. 



DURING the last few months our leading bee-periodicals 

 have brought out many good points on the above sub- 

 ject. Still there is room — the subject is not exhausted 

 yet. Our daily experience in that line offers frequently 

 new features, so that, in adding another chapter, I may 

 possibly mention some points that have not been touched 

 before, or make some repetitious by the way of indorsement. 



The remark, that the job is only half done when the 

 honey crop is harvested, and that it requires fully as much 

 sharp brain-work to do the selling in a profitable way, is 

 not taken out of the air. In possession of a good apiary, 

 and favored with a good honey locality, it is a comparatively 

 easy task to produce a honey crop. There is very little dif- 

 ference in the general work. With the exception of some of 

 our individual hobbies and notions, it is about the same 

 in one place as in another — we all have to agree on this one 

 point : Bees must be in proper condition to take advantage 

 of the honey-flow. 



But in selling our crop it is very different. We have to 

 adapt ourselves to various circumstances. Some localities 

 prefer comb honey mainly ; others call for the extracted in 

 liquid form, while still others will only be satisfied with the 

 granulated in paper sacks. Then, again, the package itself 

 has its certain patrons ; some prefer to buy in large and 

 other in small dishes, while another portion would rather 

 have the tin or paper in preference to glass. To sum up, 

 the secret of a flourishing honey-trade lies right here : We 

 must produce and offer for sale such honey, and honey in 

 such shape, as will draw the attention of our would-be cus- 

 tomers and induce them to buy. 



In following up the development of the paper-sack as a 

 package for granulated honey. I am surprised to see how 

 different people differ in their likes and dislikes. I could not 

 sell one can of granulated where a dozen of liquid honey 

 would find ready sale. I attribute this preference to the 

 more attractive appearance of the latter— not the milky, 

 partly granulated stuff— but the genuine, sparkling and 

 glistening article, in which not a sign of any granule or 

 any other impurity can be detected. 



I am frequently asked the question : How do you man- 

 age to get vour honey so clear and nice ? Of course I al- 

 ways have to explain that all the trick to get clear honey is 

 to draw it from the bottom of the tank. While this is an 

 easy matter it is not so easy to keep it liquefied. I have not 

 yet discovered the secret of keeping honey from granula- 

 ting ; I generally have to reliquefy once, which, if properly 

 done, will keep it in that condition nearly all winter, or at 

 least until it is sold. To make it all plain, which may be 

 of some interest to the younger portion of our readers, I 

 will give a short rehearsal of my extracted-honey manage- 

 ment. 



The object of running an apiary for extracted honey is 

 not only to produce the honey, but to control swarming at 

 the same time. A first-class article of well-ripened honey 

 can only be taken from combs that are all, or nearly all, 

 capped, and to guard against the swarming fever, plenty of 

 store-room in the shape of empty combs must be accessible 

 to a colony at all times during the honey-flows. An infringe- 

 ment on these two points will result in producing a more or 

 less inferior grade of honey, and induce swarming when 

 not desirable. 



My honey-tanks are made of galvanized iron ; they are 

 18 inches in diameter and 30 inches high, holding about 400 

 pounds each. I prefer that shape because a larger percent- 

 age of clear honey can be drawn from a high vessel than 

 from a lower one of the same size. 



When I begin extracting, I fill tank No. 1 to within 

 three or four inches of the top, and cover up with a thin 

 cloth. This keeps out dust and insects, and allows evapora- 

 tion. If more extracting has to be done, I fill up the next, 

 and if necessary the third in tiie same way, which gives the 

 first one a chance to work it.sclf clear. As soon as this has 

 taken place, and whenever I liave any leisure time, I begin 

 to draw from this tank and fill up my retail packages, which 



