202 



AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL. 



March 28, 1901. 



George Hilton — When using deep frames, and tlie bees do 

 not enter the sections readily, take out the side frames that 

 are filled with honey, and extract it ; then return the empty 

 frames, but put them in the center of the brood-chamber. 

 When the bees will not work in the supers it is sometimes 

 because there is too much honey in the brood-chamber, and 

 this choked condition is often caused by honey being carried 

 over from the previous season. We have to put supers on 

 early in northern Michigan. 



Mr. Hutchinson — To get the bees to work in the supers, 

 half or partly filled sections are sometimes used. Get the 

 bees to clean out these uufinisht sections the fall before, and 

 in the spring they can be used. Sometimes the outside frames 

 in the brood-chamber are filled with honey These can be 

 uncapt and placed in the center of the brood-chamber, when 

 the bees will carry this honey up into the sections. 



Mr. Beecham — I can not always get the bees to work in 

 sections or starters. 



Mr. Hutchinson — I use drawn combs to get them started. 



Wm; J. C. Davis — I have had no trouble with bees not 

 working in the supers. 



Mrs. Jackson — 1 have had no trouble with bees loafing. I 

 tier up the supers with partly filled sections. 



POLLEN IN THE SECTIONS — CROSS BEES. 



Mr. Beecham — I produce extracted honey altogether. I 

 have had trouble with the Heddon hive, as I have to use a 

 queen-excluder. When I produced comb honey and had to use 

 a queen-excluder the bees put pollen in the sections, and the 

 queen sometimes got thru the excluder and laid eggs in the 

 sections. 



Mr. Hutchinson — I have no trouble with pollen in the sec- 

 tions, and would suggest that Mr. Beecham put a comb in the 

 brood-chamber from which the honey has been extracted, and 

 this comb would take the extra pollen. I should think that 

 being bothered with pollen in the sections in this way was a 

 good deal a matter of locality. 



Mrs. Menold — When the frames are filled with honey I 

 take out one of them and put a new one in its place. 



Mrs. Menold — What shall I do with cross bees ? 



Mr. Hutchinson — Change your queens. 



WINTERING BEES — PUTTING ON SUPERS. 



Mrs. Menold — I do not winter my bees in the cellar. I 

 put a dry-goods box over the hive and pack hay between the 

 box and the hive. 



Mr. Beecham — I have had trouble with bees storing honey 

 on frosty nights. I would like to ask Mrs. Jackson if she 

 winters her bees in the cellar. 



Mrs. Jackson — Yes. I do not put them out until the wil- 

 lows bloom, and I put on sections in apple-bloom. 



Mr. Beecham— I think that bees should be protected on 

 cold nights in the spring. For the past two years I have win- 

 tered mine in the cellar, and think that when they are so win- 

 tered they will dwindle in the spring. 



Mr. Coveyou— I think that the supers should be double- 

 walled and tight. I should also want double-walled hives. 



Mr. Root — I think that bees in chaff hives will not be 

 affected by cold nights. If the bees are to work in the sec- 

 tions at night the supers must be warm enough for them to 

 do so. 



Mr. Berg — I lose more bees in the cellar than in chaff 

 hives, so I prefer to winter them in chaff hives. 



Mr. Hilton — I have cushions on all of my hives. I think 

 the cushions must be retained on the supers in order to have 

 the bees draw out the comb. The supers must be tight or the 

 bees can not work in them, and it will not do to put on supers 

 when the brood-chamber is only half full of brood. The 

 brood-chamber must be filled with brood and no honey, and 

 the hives must be warm. 



Mr. Beecham — I was led to use the Heddon hive so as to 

 avoid the handling of so many frames. I would like to ask if 

 Mr. Hilton has any trouble in getting out the first frame. 



Mr. Hilton — None at all. I have self-spacing frames with 

 thick top-bars. 



Mr. Sillsby— I have no trouble in getting out the first 

 frame ; I use a block with a slope to it, and have thick top- 

 bars. Neither am I annoyed with brace-combs. 



Mr. Hilton — I leave a 9^-inch space between the top-bars 

 to prevent brace-combs. 



Mr. Beecham — One must be a good judge to know when is 

 the right time to put on supers. 



Mr. Townsend — I use full sheets of foundation. 



Mr. Root — One must have the hives tight so that the cold 

 air can not get in. 



Mr. Beecham -I have had trouble with bees that would 



not store honey in sections, but would store it in the extract- 

 ing combs. 



Mr. Townsend — They will store honey in the extracting 

 combs better than in the sections. 



Mr. Hilton — I have had experience with both starters and 

 full sheets of foundation, and the sections have been finisht 

 sooner when the full sheets were used. 



PLAIN SECTIONS AND FENCES. 



Mr. Coveyou — I like the fence separators best, as the 

 queen does not like them. 



Mr. Root — Three-fourths of the orders now are for plain 

 sections with fence separators. 



Mrs. Menold — I use a section plain all around. 



Mr. Hilton — A plain section is one without the inset. I 

 never had first-class section honey until I used plain sections. 

 The sections must be taken off as soon as they are capt over 

 or they will be travel-stained. The tiering-up must not be 

 continued too long. The plain section without the inset has 

 come to stay. The honey that sells to fancy trade is that 

 secured by using plain sections and fence separators. 



Mr. Berg — I used plain sections for the first time the past 

 season, and like them the best. 



Mr. Fox — I have sold my honey in plain sections in this 

 city. 



USING OLD SECTIONS — ALSIKE CLOVER. 



Mr. Root — Does it pay to use sections that have been used 

 the year before ? 



Mr. Hutchinson— I think that if the old sections have 

 been taken care of and kept clean they are all right to use 

 again. 



Mr. Hilton — I have put on sections that have been used 

 before, but every year I use less of them. No sections ever 

 come off as nicely as the first I put on — the first honey here is 

 the best. I get better results when I use new sections, as the 

 bees seem to work better in them. 



Mr. Beecham — I have always used drawn comb in the sec- 

 tions. I take off sections before the buckwheat flow, as I do 

 not want it to get mixt with the white honey. 



Mr. Berg — I have used cleaned sections with drawn comb, 

 and have found that the bees would get these combs uneven. 

 I get the best honey from new sections, when I use full sheets 

 of foundation. 



Mr. Sillsby — I sold all of my white honey for 15 and 16 

 cents per pound. There are lOU acres of alsike clover near 

 me, and the bees work better on it than on red clover. 



Mr. Storer — I had a fine lot of honey from alsike clover ; 

 bees like it the best. 



EARLY FEEDING — WORKING IN SUPERS. 



Mr. Sillsby — I would like to ask about early feeding to 

 build up the colony. 



Mr. Hilton — Begin to feed as soon as the bees begin to fly. 



Mr. Hutchinson — I do not think that liquid feeding in the 

 spring pays. A weak colony must not be stimulated in the 

 spring ; if this is done and a cold spell comes on then it's 

 '■ good-by " to the colony. 



Mr. Berg — I have had trouble with bees not working in 

 the supers. I reduced the swarming fever by extracting — 

 putting on a shallow super, then extracting the honey they 

 stored in it, and afterward putting on sections. I put a new 

 super underneath the one partly filled, being careful not to 

 allow the upper one to become filled. 



Mr. Hilton — I put an empty super underneath the one 

 partly filled, and tier up just as soon as the super is X full. 

 Bees will not travel by an empty super. 



Mr. Coveyou — I think it pays to put supers on early, so as 

 to get the early flow. 



SWARMING. 



Mr. Berg — When bees have nothing to do they want to 

 swarm. I would rear colonies from queens that do not swarm, 

 as my experience has been that I get more honey from bees 

 that do not swarm. 



Mr. Beecham — If you run for extracted honey your bees 

 will not swarm, but they will if you run for comb honey. 



Mr. Berg — 1 had one colony ^hat did not swarm, and they 

 stored from three to four supers o^ honey every year. 



Mr. Kaufman — I have no trouble with the bees swarming, 

 as I run for extracted honey. 



Mr. Kitson — I have had three queens in one hive, each 

 queen having a part of the hive. 



Mr. Berg — It is very difficult to keep the bees from 

 swarming when producing comb honey. People should not 

 eat comb honey, as the wax is not good to eat : it is indigest- 

 ible, and is not made to eat, but to hold honey. Extracted 

 honey is the best to eat. 



Mr. Hutchinson — Extracted honey is moie easily pro- 



