304 



October, igil. 



American 'Ree Journal 



thus making a nasty mess when the 

 separators are moved ; and where full 

 sheets of foundation are used, I have 

 known some to be so careless — espe- 

 cially boys or girls who are set at this 

 job without instructing them in this 

 particular — that the edges are left 

 nearer the separators than the sections, 

 when placed on the hives, when it is a 

 sure thing that the bees will attach 

 them to the nearest point. However, 

 in full sheets of foundation and a level 

 hive, we have the greatest prevention 

 against this "mangled honey." 



Ne.xt in order comes the putting on 

 of sections while the colony is too 

 weak to occupy them fully, these weak 

 colonies commencing on the bait-sec- 

 tions first (where such are given), and 

 then spreading out from there in either 

 direction ; but as it is warmest, from 

 the lack of bees fully to occupy the 

 section on botli sides of the comb, on 

 the sides next the center, they draw 

 out the cells near the center of the 

 foundation, up and down, first on this 

 inside of the foundation, which causes 

 it to curl at the sides or edges, from 

 no work being done on the opposite 

 side, until it comes nearer the separa- 

 tor than to the sides of the sections, 

 and thus it is attached to the separators 

 instead of the sections where it should 

 be. From this reason many more 

 mangled sections are found where any 

 colony completes only a few than with 

 colonies which complete all the sec- 

 tions in a super in a short period of 

 time. 



Lastly, this trouble may come from 

 putting the section supers on too early 

 in the season, before enough nectar 

 comes in from the field for the bees to 

 secrete wa.x, or even draw foundation, 

 when the colony is in a prosperous 

 condition otherwise. In such early 

 putting on with sections having foun- 

 dation or only starters, at any time 

 when the bees are not occupied with 

 field-work, they seem to amuse them- 

 selves by biting or gnawing away at 

 the foundation or starters, often en- 

 tirely removing starters and making 

 great holes in the foundation, which 

 results in many imperfect combs, which 

 otherwise would have been avoided. 

 Such gnawing more often results in 

 the twisting of that part or portion of 

 the foundation which is left until it 

 comes nearer tlie separators than the 

 sides of the sections, when brace-combs 

 result in the same way as has been 

 given before. This putting on of the 

 sections too early in the season can 

 easily be avoided by studying our loca- 

 tion as to flora ; but as we can have 

 no control of the secretion of nectar, 

 or the periods of scarcity coming after 

 the sections are on, this part of the 

 matter can not well be overcome. But 

 by avoiding all the things which tend 

 toward these brace-combs as far as 

 possible, we shall very seldom have 

 mangled honey, which will be very 

 much to our satisfaction, as well as to 

 a better financial result. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



been an abnormal number of swarms 

 of bees during the summer of 1910, that 

 were independently hunting homes for 

 themselves. This, perhaps, accounts 

 for the large number of queer selec- 

 tions they made duriug that season. In 

 our vicinity there are bees in brick 

 walls, squirrel boxes, stone founda- 

 tions, in the walls of frame houses, and 

 I knew of a swarm that took up its 

 abode in the hollow of a front porch 

 post, and got along admirably until the 

 occupants of the house smothered 

 them. But the most remarkable case 

 that has come to my notice, is that 

 which is the occasion of this contribu- 

 tion. 



As I was going down Seventh Street 

 Dec. 28, 1910, I noticed, sticking just 

 above the second-story window of a 

 brick Imilding, a white patch, which I 

 immediately identified as honey-comb. 

 I called on the lady of the house at 



Removing Bees from a Window 



BY CH.\S. F. FEEMSTER. 



In the city and surrounding country 

 of York, Nebr., there seems to have 



Getting Bef.s Down from a Window. 



once, and asked for the privilege of 

 examining the comb. She was very 

 much pleased, for she thought, perhaps, 

 there would be a chance of being re- 

 lieved of something which had been a 

 terror to them for some time. 



After a partial examination I found 

 that there were some live bees in the 

 comb, and, I judged, some surplus. I 

 told the lady that I would be back in a 

 day or two and attempt to take away 

 the colony. 



When I got home I told my brother 

 that I had found another swarm of 

 bees. " Finding another swarm of 

 bees" had become a joke with us, for 

 we had already captured 3 swarms 

 since the first of August. 



We at once began planning how to 

 take them down, and what to do with 

 them afterward. Of course, the api- 

 arist would have said that they were 

 not worth bothering with, but we — 

 perhaps having some of the early in- 

 stinct in us for fighting bumble-bees, 

 together with a liking for handling 

 honey-bees — were not altogether after 

 the value there was in it. Besides, as 

 it was late in the season, it was appar- 

 ent that the swarm could not live much 

 longer in the open. Therefore, it would 



be only a humane act to offer them a 

 better chance by housing them. 



December 30 we went down to get 

 our bees. We took with us a box with 

 netting to cover it, and a long ladder. 

 There being no place to set the box in 

 such a way that it would be handy to 

 put the bees in, we tied a string handle 

 on it and swung it to the top of the 

 ladder. After letting a little smoke 

 blow among the bees from a smudging 

 cotton rag, I began trimming off the 

 outer comb. The illustration shows 

 the situation when the first piece was 

 taken off. As I cut off each piece I 

 turned it with the opposite end down, 

 and stood it in the box parallel to its 

 sides, placing a small piece of comb 

 between the ends to keep them from 

 settling together. After I had taken it 

 all down, there was about 7 pounds of 

 honey and a gallon of bees. There 

 was but little flying, and those bees 

 that did make the attempt were gen- 

 erally chilled so that they fell to the 

 ground. Although the temperature 

 had been to about zero, and snow cov- 

 ered the ground, the bees seemed to 

 be in a fairly good condition. 



The way in which the combs were 

 arranged gave the bees but little pro- 

 tection from the north and south 

 winds. The main parts were hung 

 from the lower side of the window 

 arch, which projected over the top of 

 the window-frame about .5 inches. As 

 it hung down over the window screen, 

 and, as I remember, was not fastened 

 to the window-frame, there was room 

 for free circulation of cold air behind. 

 There were 4 of these combs parallel 

 to each other, and in them were most 

 of the bees and honey. Just above this 

 and attached to the window arch were 

 several smaller combs built at right 

 angles to it. A few surviving bees 

 were still in these, and perhaps l}i 

 pounds of honey. 



We carried the box and its contents 

 home without any disturbance what- 

 ever, rearranged the combs in the box, 

 and placed them in a dark cellar. The 

 bees settled down as well trained bees 

 should, and seemed much pleased with 

 the change. 



York, Nebr. 



Honey of Modern Production 



VV)-itleii for the Second Congress of Alimentation, 

 at Liege, Belgium, Oct. 4. IQI I, 



BY C. P. D.\DANT. 



Previous to the Thirteenth Century, 

 honey was the sole sweet known to 

 Europe. Sugar-cane, imported from 

 Syria, furnished for a long time a lim- 

 ited amount of sugar which was con- 

 sidered as a medicament, and was re- 

 tailed only by apothecaries or drug- 

 gists. As for commercial glucose, it is 

 a very modern product. On the con- 

 trary, honey is a product wliich was 

 used before the dawn of civilization. 

 However, the apiarist did not obtain it 

 in so attractive a shape as at present. 

 The inventions of the centrifugal 

 honey-extractor, and of the movable- 

 frame hive, have revolutionized this 

 production. It is sufficient to glance 

 through the apiarian treatises published 

 previous to the year 1800, to learn that 

 the only choice honey was that which 

 had been " strained " from virgin combs 



