THE fifiE-KEEl^ERS' REVimV. 



SJ3 



,!Ljivo the iiiforinalimi >/0u'. as soiiio may 

 have combs of candied lioney on hand 

 that they wonld be lemjited to melt up 

 this winter did they not possess the 

 knuwledjfe contained in the above ex- 

 tract. 



STRAir.HT COMBS. 



How 111 Secure Them WitliiMii iMUMulation. 



"That which is crooked cannot be made 

 etraigh*: and that which is wanting cannot be 

 iinmbered."— 6'fiif. 



Last month tlie Review had considera- 

 ble to sav about the use and non-use of 

 comb foundation, the securinjj of strai,s;^ht 

 and all-worker comb, etc., and now that 

 this topic is up we may as well keep it up 

 until all is said that can be said profitably, 

 and it seems to me that the followini^ 

 article from the pen of Mr. Uoolittle, and 

 published in the American Bee-Keeper, 

 will follow alonjf very nicely after what 

 appeared last month. 



" A correspondent wishes me to tell the 

 readers of the American Bee Keeper, how 

 straij^ht combs can be secured without 

 usinjf full sheets of foundation in the 

 brood frames, how to avoid the buildin*' 

 of too much dn>ne comb, where only 

 starters are used in the frames, and how 

 often he should look after his bees; so I 

 will }ii\e a sort of a ramblinjj talk alont^ 

 these lines, as in my younj<er bee keep- 

 intj days 1 used to pick up more of 

 real worth, to me, out of rambling ar- 

 ticles, than I did out of many fine spun 

 theories, which many writers are quite 

 prone to jjive. As a rule I ])refer natural 

 swarmiu}.; to anv mode of makinj; swarms, 

 and as the time of natural swanninj^ will 

 be in its heij^hth when this article reach- 

 es the eves of the reader, '" a word or two 

 rej;ardinj4 how I manaj^e them in view to 

 securinji strai<(ht combs, will be in j^ood 

 time. Havinj; all of my queens' wint^s 

 clipped, as I believe this is rij^ht where 

 natural swarminj,' is all(iwed, I hive the 

 swanns by lettinjr them return, which 

 thev will do as sixm as they miss the 

 queen; movinj^ the old hive to a new lo- 

 cation and setting the new hive contain- 



* Er ideally , this article waa written in the 

 early apriog. -Ed. 



iug" the full number of frames (I use 

 nine) in its place, while the swarm is out. 

 In two days I open said hive and usually 

 find the bees have made a good start in 

 five frames. These five frames I place 

 together at one side of the hive and a di- 

 vision board is placed next to them so as 

 to coniine the bees to them. This throws 

 the full force of bees on these five frames 

 and wU soon fill them with straight 

 worker comb, as a general rule, as I use 

 a starter of worker foundation one-half 

 inch wide in each frame, so that they 

 may be started straight and right, on the 

 start. If there are more bees than can 

 well get on these five frames, the surplus 

 arrangement, or as much of it as is re- 

 quired, is placetl over them. If you get 

 these five huilt straight you will have no 

 trouble in getting the rest so, as they can 

 liuild them in no other way if placed be- 

 tween two of those already built. If 

 drone comb is likely to be built in these 

 last put in, which is often the case, I 

 would use cojnb foundation in these, even 

 if I had to pay a dollar a pound for it, 

 unless I could get worker combs built in 

 some way, at a less price. If every comb 

 is a straight comb, and all worker, such 

 a swarm will be a profitable one, or 

 a luckv swarm, as it used to be term- 

 ed. If you attend to the building 

 of the comb the first season and have it 

 as above, you will have all profital)le 

 swarms. S'o apiarist, if he has no more 

 than three or four colonies should con- 

 sider a swarm in proper working order 

 until each comb is a straight worker 

 comb. There is no need of having hives 

 half full of drone comb and so crooked 

 that they cannot be handled. Do things 

 at the right time and in the proper man- 

 ner and vour bees will more than pay you 

 for all the time spent on them. It makes 

 no particidar difference what hive you 

 use, this method of getting combs built 

 is the correct one, if you do not wish to 

 use foundation or feel too poor to buy it. 

 Suppose large swarms come out when 

 honey is coming in plentifully and you 

 hive them without paying any further 

 attention to them; they will build comb 

 verv rajiidlv, fdling their hives in eight or 

 ten (lavs, as I have known them to do, 

 and their combs will be quite apt to be 

 crooked and at least one-third drone or 

 store comb, which is good for nothing 

 for raising worker bees the next .season, 

 and is an actual damage as the drones 

 will consume a greater part of what the 

 workers will gather. Such swarms or 

 colonies will be unprofitable, either for 

 raising bees or storing honey, just .so long 

 as you allow the combs to remain in that 



