THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



303 



views upou the above subject in rtu article iu 

 tlie Proijressice Bee-Keeper. She says: — 



" While it may, and no doubt does, pay to 

 nave strong colonies in the North, it will not 

 pay, as a rLile, here iu the South to winter 

 strong colonies. Anything above an ordin- 

 ary colony or about half a gallon of bees is 

 wintered at a loss in the South, as a moder- 

 ate swarm will build up sufficiently strong, 

 long before the honey flow. It is worse than 

 useless to have a powerful colony. The late 

 Judge Andrews, of Mclvinley, who is high 

 authority on bees, has well said that it was 

 better to burn your bees off in the fall rath- 

 er than have them hang around idle all fall 

 and winter, using honey at a great loss tot he 

 owner. This I have found to be true in this 

 country. We need the honey here, especi- 

 ally in the spring, but it is best only to have 

 a fair colony of bees, a good queen and 

 plenty of honey in Texas, or the Southern 

 States." 



Large colonies are not needed here at the 

 North any more than in the South, if the bees 

 are kept in a warm cellar. Those wintered 

 out of doors ought to be a little stronger to 

 keep up the requisite heat. Strange though 

 it may seem, a colony that is unusually 

 strong all through the winter and early 

 spring is not so likely to be strong and ready 

 for the harvest when it comes. A medium 

 colony vpith plenty of stores and a young 

 queen, and well-wintered, is the one that 

 may be looked to for profits. 



The Crane Smoker Superior. 



The Crane Smoker has been given a trial 

 at the Root establishment, and a report of 

 how it suited is given in Gleanings. By the 

 way, I have sent my Crane Smoker to Mr. 

 Bingham that he miy ex nnine it. Here is 

 what Gleaidiiys had to saj of the smoker : 



" We have just been tr> ing the new Crane 

 hot-blast smoker, h.< recently illustrated in 

 the Bee-Keepers^ Review. From some tests 

 we have made we ;ire of the opinion that it 

 is superior to any smoker ever constructed. 

 It has the force of the cold-blast and the 

 volume of the hot-blast very nicely com- 

 bined. Mr. Crane autho'-izes us to say that 

 the smoker will not be offered for sale until 

 it has been thoroughly tested by a few com- 

 petent bee-keepers, and its value deter- 

 mined." 



How Bees Change Nectar Into Ripe Honey. 



Considering the special topic of this issue, 

 I think the following, written by Mr. Doolit- 

 tle about fifteen years ago, and published in 

 Gleaniii'/s at that time, may be very appro- 

 priately introduced : 



" Our experiments have led us to the con- 

 clusion that all honey brought in from the 

 fields by the outside laborers is given to the 

 young bees, taken into their honey sacks, 

 and if more is gathered than their sacks can 

 contain, it is deposited in the cells till night, 

 and then evaporated down ; although the 

 evaporation is going on to some extent du- 

 ring the day time. At night all hands join, 

 from the outside lalmrers with jagged wings 

 down to the bees but a day or so old, and the 

 honey or thin sweet is taken into the honey 

 sack, thrown out on the proboscis, drawn 

 back in again and so on until by the heat of 

 the hive these small particles of honey are 

 brought to the right consistency, when it is 

 deposited in the cell. In order to do this the 

 bees hang loosely so that when the probos- 

 cis is thrown out it shall not hit another bee 

 or the combs or hive. Many a night have 

 we watched their operations, and by the 

 light of a lamp you can see the little drops 

 of nectar sparkle as it is thrown on the 

 proboscis and drawn in again. When honey 

 is coming in slowly you will not be likely to 

 see this process. AH, doubtless, have ob- 

 served that when bees are getting honey 

 plentifully it shakes readily from the combs 

 at night, while in the morning before the 

 bees go into the fields not a particle can be 

 shaken from the combs." 



So many seem to have the idea that bees 

 simply bring nectar into the hive and store 

 it in the combs, and that it is then honey (?) 

 and the bees have only to wait until it is 

 sufficiently evaporated to seal it over, and 

 then they are done with it. The truth of the 

 matter is that the bringing of it in from the 

 flowers is but a small part of the manipula- 

 tion that it receives. Those who fear that 

 sugar syrup may be fed so rapidly when it is 

 fed to produce honey that it will not receive 

 sufficient of the " ferment " of the bees to 

 change the cane sugar to honey, may lay 

 aside such fears, as it is not simply while 

 the bees are carrying in the syrur> that the 

 change is taking place, but during the ma- 

 nipulalions that follow before it is sealed 

 over. Readers will now understand why I 

 believe that the extractini.' of raw nectar and 

 evaporating it by artificial heat results in a 

 " something " that has but liff.le more honey 

 about it than has sugar syrup that has not 

 been fed to the bees. 



Desirable Features of Narrow Sections. 



I have used several thousands of sections 

 that were only one and one-half inches wide. 

 Straighter combs are secured, if no sepa- 

 rators are used, and the honey is sealed over 

 sooner. The honey also meets with a more 

 ready sale for the reason that a thin comb is 



