304 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15. 



handled. When this yard is finished, we drive 

 home rather leisurely. Just after sundown Mr. 

 C.'s little boys stop from their chores to shout, 

 "Here is papa! " 



We had driven over thirty miles, unpacked 

 131 colonies, besides going over 110 colonies that 

 were in chaff hives. 



We have a regular system upon which we 

 work, not only in unpacking, but in all the work 

 with the bees. To do rapid work, one must 

 have, first, handy hives and fixtures; second, a 

 system that fits the hives: third, men who are 

 used to both^ In the case of that big day's work 

 we had hives of two entirely different patterns, 

 neither one of which has proven itself so 

 superior as to drive the other out of use. 



We had a system that is the result of over a 

 quarter of a century's constant effort to system- 

 atize the work. We had two men who had 

 worked together more or less for seven seasons; 

 the third was an experienced bee-man, quick 

 to learn, but he had never worked on that 

 system before. We go to work as soon as we 

 reach the yard and every thing is ready. The 

 first step in unpacking is to place the bottom- 

 boards. These are loose. They an- placed 

 where they stood last year. They can be told 

 by the places where there is no grass. One 

 man carries them out from the honey-house, 

 where they had wintered, and sees that they 

 are level from side to side, and tipped slightly 

 forward. The others take off the covers from 

 the packing-cases, which hold eight colonies, 

 and place them near where the empty cases are 

 to stand, then the hives are lifted out one by 

 one, after being slightly smoked at the en- 

 trance, and placed upon tho stands. Care! is 

 taken to place the weaker ones where the cases 

 stood, while the stronger ones are placed on the 

 ends of the rows. The empty cases are placed 

 out of the way, but handy for the following fall. 

 The covers are carried out and placed on them, 

 and that is the end of that boxful. This is re- 

 peated with each box until all are out. The 

 hives are all looked into to see that they have 

 a queen, etc. Sometimes the one who is looking 

 through the hives calls a consultation of doc- 

 tors to see what to do to some one that is out of 

 the regular run, or perhaps it is a coroner's jury 

 that is called to find the cause of some mysteri- 

 ous death. Mr. C. himself, however, is rarely 

 at fault in such matters, his long experience 

 enabling him to see at a glance what it would 

 take one of us younger generation hours to 

 study out. He is always willing to impart his 

 knowledge to those about him. 



The work of the day goes along without many 

 directions being given. Once telling in the 

 morning is supposed to be sufficient; in fact, 

 Mr. C. very mucli prefers to have experienced 

 help. Of course, when he has a green hand, he 

 has to keep watch of him and see that he is 

 working to good advantage. The things that 

 are used during the day are all picked up at 



once. It seems to be cheaper to drop empty 

 hives, extra covers, etc.. where tliey happen to- 

 be. and then carry them all in at once, than to 

 make a separate trip for each article. 



Mr. C. says that he is handling bees for the 

 honey, and that, if he can work faster or easier 

 by having things handy, he is going to have 

 them so. He carries his system of rapid work 

 to his farm, and even to the harness. There 

 are no buckles on his harness to unbuckle; those 

 places are all fastened with snaps. His idea is, 

 to get a good system, and then stick to it, study 

 it, perfect it in every detail until you can do 

 your work with the fewest possible motions and 

 the least expenditure of time and strength. One 

 of the best ways to make bees profitable is to 

 reduce the cost of the production of honey. 



Groton, N. Y. 



PRODUCING COMB HONEY A LA FRANCE. 



CAN IT BE PRODUCED OVER TWO EIGHT-FRAME 

 BODIES? 



By E. France. 



I am asked to give my plan for producing 

 comb honey. I suppose you all know that I 

 am not a comb-honey producer usually, al- 

 though I have raised some. I have been think- 

 ing of working a part of my home yard for this 

 purpose, but I have not got at it. Several 

 years ago I got 100 supers, right size to fit my 

 hives. They hold 24 sections each. I got 400O 

 sections. I have the most of them yet. 



The question that is put to me is this: How 

 would I produce comb honey, using a two-story 

 eight-frame brood-chamber? This would de- 

 pend on circumstances. If the bees gather and 

 store that much, I must have eight frames full 

 of good sealed honey to winter the bees first; 

 then if honey is coming so they can store more, 

 I will have it put in sections; confine the queen 

 to the lower story with zinc, then put on the 

 sections with foundation starters; put the sec- 

 ond story of eight frames full of honey on top 

 of the sections, if the colony was strong. I 

 think it would be best to give them two supers 

 — one over the other. I would not put on the 

 second super of sections at first. Wait until 

 they get crowded for room. As fast as the sec- 

 tions are completed take them out. Give them 

 plenty of work to do between their winter 

 stores and the brood-nest. I am keeping their 

 winter supply overhead to save it. If the 

 frames of honey were below the sections, the 

 bees would likely put some of it up in the sec- 

 tions, and I don't want them to do it. I want 

 to give the bees their share, and I will take 

 what I can get after they have theirs. 



If the colony is strong they may swarm. If 

 they do, put the queen in a cage, and put her 

 into one of the upper sections, after removing 

 all queen-cells; then in ten days remove all 

 queen-cells again. In ten days more, liberaty 



