American ^cc Journal 



October, 1908 



motherless children, one of whom was 

 adopted in earliest infancy, and who 

 will sadly miss her best friend. 



Of late years Mrs. Amos had given 

 much attention to the subject of apicul- 

 ture, to the many perplexing problems 

 of which she brought a mind of more 

 than ordinary perceptions. Both as a 

 writer and lecturer on bee-topics she 

 had made a more than State-wide repu- 

 tation. 



She died July 26, igo8, at her home 

 in Custer Co., Neb., from a complica- 

 tion of diseases, and was followed to 

 her last resting place by the largest 

 concourse of people ever seen on a like 

 occasion in that vicinity. 



Thank you for your kind words and 

 good wishes. Please let us hear from 

 you again. 



An "Amateur" Sister's Report. 



Seven colonics, spring count, 2 colonics ab- 

 sconded (the villains!), I474 pounds of honey — 

 both comb and extracted. How is that for an 

 amateur? (Mrs.) J. J. Glessner. 



Littleton, N. H. 



An average of 210 pounds per colony ! 

 That's enough to make even a veteran 

 green with envy. 



think so, as she could speak of man) 

 years' experience with hers. However, 

 it may be .>irs. A. could give more .sue 

 cessful directions for securing a hive 

 lifter of her kind than could Miss W.— 

 Editor.! 



Spacing Brood-Frames — Kunning for 



Extracted Honey — Equalizing 



Brood. 



Dear Miss Wilson: — How far should brood- 

 frames be spaced from center to center? Those 

 I am now using are closed-end, ij^ inches 

 wide. I am going to change to another frame, 

 and one manufacturer sends a sample that is 

 about one millimeter less than i ^ inches wide. 

 I am going to run for extracted honey, and 

 use the same size frame in both super and 

 brood-chamber. 



Is it advisable to transfer brood from one 

 colony to another to equalize them? If so, 

 in what stage should the brood be ? 



If in running for extracted a super be- 

 comes full of sealed comb, you are not ready 

 to extract, and don't wish to put on another 

 super, what would you do with the combs? 

 This year I stored some in weaker colonies, 

 and instead of taking care of it, they used it 

 for rearing brood. 



This is my second year with bees and I don't 

 want to make a mistake in starting again. 



The information coming from Marengo, T 

 consider none better, and I thank you and 

 Dr. Miller for a great deal found in the jour- 

 nals the 2 years I have read them, and shall 

 appreciate your and his say on above questions 

 as a personal favor. C. C. Gettys. 



Hollis, N. C, Aug. 25. 



The spacing of frames generally used 

 is if^ inches, from center to center, al- 

 though some prefer Ij^ inches. 



A great deal of good, and a great 

 deal of harm, may be done by giving 

 brood to equalize colonies. Undoubt- 

 edly it is a good thing if care is taken 

 to give no more brood than the bees 

 can care for. The riper the brood the 

 easier it will be for the bees to care 

 for, and the sooner they will build up. 

 Much harm would come from giving 

 Ijrood that would not be covered, only 

 to be chilled. It would also be harm- 

 ful to w-eaken too much the colony 

 from which you draw. Better never 

 leave it less than 4 frames of brood. 



You stored your full combs of honey 

 over weaker colonies, and you say "in- 

 stead of taking care of it, they used it 

 rearing brood." You seem to think this 

 a mistake. Not a bit of it. They need- 

 ed it or they would not have used it, 

 and you could not have used that honey 

 in any better way. It is a big mistake 

 to stint your colonies as to stores. If, 

 however, for any reason you don't want 

 that honey used for rearing brood, you 

 can take out as many frames as you 

 wish, and store in the house, keeping 

 on the lookout that worms do not trou- 

 ble them. But there is no place so good 

 to keep- honey as in the care of the 

 bees; and if you do not wish to give 

 another whole super you can store in 

 an upper super a single comb, or as 

 many combs as you wi.sh, replacing 

 them with empty ones in the lower 

 super. 



Father Vs. Bees. 



You talk about the sprinting match 



Across the dark blue seas; 

 But you ought to see my father sprint 



When mother hives the bees! 



— Ohio. 



A Human Hive Lifter for the Sisters. 



The picture shown herewith was sent 

 by Mr. J. L. Anderson, with the in- 

 scription ; 



"The 'Old Reliable' hive-lifter; self- 

 adjusting, easily controlled, such as every 

 lady bee-keeper should have. (See 

 Aiuerican Bee Journal, pp. 11 and 73.)" 



Moth-WoiTMS — Cross Bees. 



I noticed one colony of my bees that were 

 in an old box-hive were not storing any sur 

 plus. It was a last year's swarm, and in 

 June I put on a surplus super and noticed 

 a good show of brood and honey. I inves 

 tigated — that is, pried off the super and found 

 that the wax-worms were at work. I took out 

 a half-bushel of comb and web, anu left the 

 rest. The next day robbing commenced and 

 by night they had little honey left in the 

 broou-frames. I thought to transfer them, but 

 it grew late and I could not smoke them 

 out into the new hive. The next morning 

 I was called awav .rom home, returning about 

 one o'clock. As I got out of the buggy the 

 air was full of bees, and I looked in the 

 hive and they were gone, and no wonder. 

 No honev, no brootl but hundreds of big, fat 

 wax-woriiis, which I find the chicks relish 

 very much. 



I melted up what comb was fit, and got 

 about a pound of wax. It is likely that if I 

 had been looking my bees over I would have 

 discovered the wax-worms some weeks ago. 

 but I do not like the box-hive and do not 

 interfere with the bees unless necessary. 1 

 should have transferred this colony to a new 



A Slster's Human Hive-Liftkr-" Anderson Patent." 



There is certainly recommendation in 

 that short description. 



"Self-adjusting;" no need to waste 

 time making changes to adapt it to a 

 dovetailed hive, a Ileddon, or a Jumbo. 



"Easily controlled;" well — that is, 

 generally speaking. It has the advan- 

 tage that it is adapted to other uses than 

 lifting hives— lifting carpets, for in- 

 stance. This kind of hive-lifter comes 

 high, but the best is often the cheapest. 

 It is however, very durable ; the one in 

 the picture has been in use many years 

 and is almost as good as new. Any one 

 desiring to secure this particular ma- 

 chine, can open negotiations with the 

 lawful owner, Mrs. Anderson. 



[We are surprised that Miss Wilson 

 failed to give directions for securing 

 one of these perambulating hive-lifters, 

 seeing the particular one sliovvn in the 

 illustration is not on the market. No 

 doubt there arc others "on the market" 

 that are "just as good," and would give 

 equal satisfaction, although "the lawful 

 owner" of the Anderson style luight not 



hive, but as I am only a amateur, I put it oH 

 until too late. 



My best producing colony of uees this year 

 were very ugly, bunting their .leads against 

 the screen doors of the house, trying to get at 

 me many days after I robbed them of then 

 honey. I would much rather have ugly bees. 

 and full supers, than empty supers and tamt 

 bees. Ohio. 



You appear to think that bees ought 

 to be in movable-frame hives, and in 

 that you are right. But to have trans 

 ferred would not have sa\ed the bees 

 from wax-worms after they had pro 

 ceeded so far. Almost certainly the 

 colony was queenless and the bees old 

 at the time of the windup, and if you 

 had transferred them you would not 

 have had anvthing of value. 



The moral is to have movable- frame 

 hives, and queen-right colonies, for a 

 strong colony with a good queen will 

 keep the moth at bay. Even a weak 

 colony is pretty safe against worms, if 

 the bees are Italians. 



1 am not fond of cross bees; but I 

 (|uitc agree with you in preferring those 

 that till their supers, even if their tem 

 pcrs arc not the best. 



