274 



August, 191?, 



American Vee Journal 



)>=.^^ I 



safely ? The simplest way would be 

 to give them about 15 pounds of 

 sugar syrup of a 2 to 1 mixture (2 

 pounds of sugar to J pound of water). 

 This would be their winter food, /. c, 

 their cold weather food. The honey- 

 dew would be used for building up in 

 the spring, and would be satisfactory 

 for that. 



The stores in a normal colony the 

 last of September will occupy this posi- 

 tion in a 10-frame hive: The 4 outside 

 combs will be pretty well filled, the 2 

 next will be about half filled, and the 4 

 center combs will be nearly empty, ex- 

 cept at the corners. The syrup we feed 

 will go in these 4 center combs, right 

 where it is wanted for winter. 



Mr. Byer, I am sure, will not lie 

 a\yake worrying about whether his bees 

 will winter successfully on said combs 

 of honey. He doesn't need to. But he 

 should worry some about getting 

 enough in the hives for all the bees' 

 needs in the spring. I regard it as 

 almost a joke, this necessity for a win- 

 ter brood-nest of empty combs below 

 the honey, for my bees cluster clear to 

 the top of the frames, and over them 

 and under the cushion during winter. 



Randolph, N. Y. 



I "We are proud to say that the edi- 

 torial praised in this article is from the 

 pen of Dr. Miller. Like Thiers, the 

 first president of the young French re- 

 public, our co-editor is brighter in his 

 80's than at any other time of his life.— 

 c. p. D.] 



Extracted Honey Preferred 



Ex- 



BY C. F. GREENING, 

 Vue-Prcsident of Minnesota Bee-Kt-r/'r 



Assot iatton.) 



IN the American Bee Journal for 

 May, I note a slight controversy, 

 "Comb fs. Extracted." I advo- 

 cate extracting. With a little di- 

 plomacy I have had no trouble 

 during the last 3G years in disposing of 

 all nice extracted honey for home con- 

 sumption. 



Now for my method. First, teach 

 your customers that they are getting 

 more sweet by eating extracted. Sec- 

 ond, who would ask his stomach to 

 digest that which raw muriatic acid 

 won't affect ? No wonder we are trou- 

 bled with stomach disorders when we 

 demand it to digest beeswax. Again, 

 the customer gets 2-5 percent more 

 weight of clear honey for a dollar than 

 he would comb. To work up a trade I 

 do as follows : 



I invite my prospective customers to 

 call on me and see me extract honey ; 

 not strain it from mashed-up old combs, 

 brood, bee-bread, and miller grubs. 

 Let them see that I extract honey 

 only, the other ingredients I do not 

 get. Invite the little " tots " to come 

 in, and tell them to bring a few hot 

 biscuits with them, and we will have a 

 feast, as I will furnish some butter and 

 all the honey they can eat. I have done 

 thus repeatedly, and made it win every 





Ai'TARY OF Geo. .Shiber. of Randolph. N. Y. 



time, besides putting a happy smile on 

 each child's face. I ask mylittle friends 

 to bring their syrup pitcher, and I fill 

 it with nice clear honey for them: then 

 note how soon the parents come with a 

 gallon pitcher to be filled, and pay for 

 it too, and order a supply for winter. 



Put your honey up in nice 1, 2, .5 and 

 10 pound glass jars with a neat, clean 

 label, "Warranted absolutely pure ex- 

 tracted honey," and with your signa- 

 ture attached. If you have any stand- 

 ing in the community for reliability, 

 you will be surprised at the amount 

 you will sell right at home. But I think 

 I hear you say, "It costs to give 5 or ti 

 gallons of honey away." Well, it costs 

 to advertise in any paper, and I elimi- 

 nate the middleman by getting at the 

 customer direct. I can produce more 

 than Xyi pounds of extracted honey to 

 one of comb. I am extracting from 

 combs that I have used for 20 years, 

 and they appear good for 20 more ; 

 good and tough, won't break or melt 

 down. 



In good years I have no trouble in 

 securing 150 to 200 pounds per colony. 

 In 1912 I sold for cash $86.45 from'6 

 colonies, without one cent of cost for 

 sections, guides, cases, or extra work. 

 This year I am after a new record, and 

 propose to get an average of 225 

 pounds per colony. My swarming for 

 the year is done during May. I have 

 not had a natural swarm for 5 years, 

 but simply tell the bees that I will at- 

 tend to that, and their duty is to gather 

 honey, and to keep everlastingly at it. 

 No more demoralization during the 

 honey-flow, by swarms piling out when 

 they should be in the field. No string- 

 ing up to form wax to build new 

 combs, losing the good honey-gather- 

 ing time, and leaving the parent colony 

 worthless for several days. 



It took me 30 years to discover that 

 my children did not have to watch the 



bees for about 4 months every summer, 

 and now the grandchildren escape the 

 duty. It is so easy when we knoiv hozc. 

 Grand Meadows, Minn. 



(Friend Greening, we are with you 

 on every point but one, and that is 

 the damage that the broken crumbs of 

 wax may do to the stomach. We know 

 that doctors differ on many points of 

 similar nature, so we will leave this 

 matter for them to settle, but we can- 

 not help thinking that the indigestible 

 wax is harmless in the intestinal tube. 

 We believe it is eliminated without 

 harm. — Editor.] 



The Law On Sugar-Fed Bees 



A 



BY FREDERICK A. GRIFFITH. 



MISSOURI State court at Kansas 

 City recently declared 170 hives 

 of sugar-fed bees within 100 feet 

 of a city neighbor's house a nui- 

 sance, and gave a restraining or- 

 der compelling the bee-keeper to move 

 his bees within a month. 



The testimony showed that on ac- 

 count of being sugar-fed all summer, 

 tlie bees, like rich men's pampered off- 

 spring, were fat, lazy, and prone to 

 forage close at home. Consequently, 

 they foraged on every available sweet 

 inside or outside of the neighbor's 

 house; stung his baby into insensi- 

 bility, and kept the whole family in 

 constant dread. 



The writer, who is a lawyer as well 

 as a bee-keeper, and defended the bee- 

 keeper, was convinced by the testimony 

 of many witnesses that the bees in this 

 particular instance were a nuisance, 

 and realized before progressing far 

 that it was a "hopeless case." The 



LEWIS BEEWARE MEANS f 



GOOD QUALITY. sclEN- .«ieiicl for AnnunI Ciitolns nUicli «i!l loll 

 'rL'^^l£'.?I"',r'l'^''.?,*l.T >•>" "'■« is jour nearest Di.stribufer. 



AREFU L PACK! NC 



EFFICIENT SERVICE <i- D. I.en Is Company, Watertown, Wis. 



