October, 1913. 



335 



American "Bgg Joarn^^ 



especially one who can listen intelli- 

 gently to what he has to say, and to 

 discuss with him his plans. Even if 

 you did nothing but this, and never 

 touched a finger to the work, it would 

 be worth a lot to him. To prepare you 

 rightly for this, make a study of one 

 or more good books on bee-keeping, 

 such as Langstroth's. And if at any 

 time you feel the need to consult some 

 one of more experience than yourself, 

 or have any inquiries to make about 

 anything you come across in your 

 reading, it will be a real pleasure to 

 answer in the department for women 

 in the American Bee Journal any ques- 

 tions you may have to ask. 



Look Out for Looks 



The other day, at a county fair in a 

 neighboring county, the first premium 

 on comb honey was taken by sections 

 that had never been scraped or cleaned 

 in any way, but with all the bee-glue 

 upon them, just as they were taken 

 from the hives. That did not speak 

 very well for the good taste and enter- 

 prise of — somebody. Let us hope it 

 was not a woman, for women are sup- 

 posed to average just a bit better in the 

 matter of taste than the members of 

 the sterner se.x. 



Whatever may or may not be the 

 case as to the comparative eating qual- 

 ity of comb and extracted, the proba- 

 bility is that in a great majority of 

 cases the consumer is willing to pay 

 the higher price for comb just because 

 of its looks. And the more nicely a 

 section is cleaned the stronger the ap- 

 peal in the matter of looks. 



Some claim that it is better to have a 

 section just as it left the hive, so that 

 the purchaser may think it real honey 

 made by the bees, and not an affair 

 manufactured by man. Whatever may 

 have been true in the past, in these 

 days of pure-food laws there is no 

 need to make such an appeal to the 

 ignorance of consumers. Nor is it 

 necessary to have wings or bodies of 

 dead bees in extracted honey in order 

 to show that it is genuine honey made 

 by the bees. 



Whether you produce comb or ex- 

 tracted, look out for looks. 



Observation Hives 



What do you think of my putting a 

 swarm of bees in an obersvation hive 

 next spring ? Will bees do as well in 

 an observatory hive as in any other 

 hive ? What will such a hive cost ? 

 (Mrs.) Belle Everett. 



The probability is that an observa- 

 tion hive will be a source of much in- 

 terest to you, and that you will thereby 

 learn some things that you would not 

 otherwise learn. It will never fail to 

 interest visitors to be able to sit in a 

 house and watch the bees at work 

 without the possibility of danger from 

 stings 



For $9.00 you can get an 8-frame ob- 

 servation hive, complete with super, 

 including frames, sections, and glass 

 on sides and ends, with shutters to 

 cover the glass; the wood oiled and 

 varnished so as to make an attractive 

 piece of furniture. For $3.50 you can 



get an observation hive with one 

 frame. Bees will do as well in an 8- 

 frame observation hive as in an ordi- 

 nary 8-frame hive. With only one 

 frame, as you would naturally expect, 

 they will not do so well, and the frame 

 of brood must be renewed every week 

 or 10 days. From that you will see 

 that it is not an easy thing to keep the 

 one-frame hive going through the win- 

 ter, while some are quite successful in 

 keeping a larger number of frames 

 summer and winter. 



While the hive with only a single 

 frame is not a very permanent affair, 

 the chance for satisfactory observation 

 is many times greater than in a hive 

 filled with 8 frames. With glass on 

 both sides of the single frame, you can 

 at any time see all that is going on at 

 any part of the comb; and especially 

 you can at any time point out the 

 queen, for she is likely to be the cen- 

 tral point of interest. With 8 frames 

 you can see only the outer face of the 

 two outer combs. Generally there will 

 be no brood to be seen on these two 

 outside faces, as they will contain only 

 honey and pollen ; so the queen will 

 have no object in visiting them, and 

 the work of the bees in caring for the 

 eggs and larvae can never be seen. 



Possibly you may prefer to have one 

 of your regular hives made into an ob- 

 servation hive. It is a very simple 

 matter. Any rr.echanic can cut out 

 nearly all of one side of the hive, and 

 put in a large pane of glass, or you can 

 have glass put on all sides, and there 



you are with a hive that will allow you 

 to see about all that you can see with 

 the more expensive hive. 



On the whole, there is not so very 

 much advantage in having glass on 

 more than the one side. Then you can 

 have only a single frame in the hive, 

 or you can have any number of frames 

 up to the full capacity. With a single 

 frame in the hive you can see the one 

 side of that frame, and if there is any 

 special reason for seeing the other 

 side, as for instance the construction 

 of a queen-cell on that other side, it is 

 an easy thing to turn the frame end for 

 end. Then if you wish you can have 

 two frames in the hive, giving you still 

 an excellent chance for observation, 

 while allowing the frames to last with- 

 out renewal much more than twice as 

 long as with a single frame. From 

 that you can increase the number of 

 frames as you wish ; each increase 

 making the colony more permanent, 

 but lessening the chance for observa- 

 tion. 



Of course a dummy or division- 

 board must be in the hive when it is 

 not filled with frames, and a board or 

 cloth must cover the glass when not 

 under observation, for bees do not like 

 to have constant exposure to the light. 

 Your hive still remains available for 

 use in the apiary the same as in any 

 other hive. Indeed, for your own per- 

 sonal observation, you may prefer to 

 keep the hive in the apiary, running it 

 only through the warm season. 



E. D. Nichols and his comb-honey packins; stand, grading rules on board at top, sample 

 sections in rack below. Like honey is packed together correctly, 



