August, 1916. 



2<',0 



American Hae Journal j 



^> 



How much surface do the bees have 

 to cover or secrete wax on when they 

 build the section full of comb and fill 

 the outer cells and leave no rounded 

 edges ? As an example take a i Vx4 '4 - 

 1% inch section; the average thickness 

 of comb in this style of section will be 

 about l;'s inches: figure four sides 

 4xl>'8 inches and we have 22 square 

 inches of surface to each section. Mul- 

 tiply this by the number of sections in 

 super and you will find that the bees 

 have some reason to hesitate before 

 starting on this task, and no wonder 

 if some of the work is left undone and 

 not perfect. Of course, if some of the 

 sections are supplied with full sheets 

 of foundation, this gives the bees about 

 30 square inches of surface to build 

 comb on in each section, and is a great 

 help. The more the bees are aided 

 with their work the more honey they 

 produce, and the beekeeper will be 

 well paid for any extra expense in- 

 curred. 



My device for coating the inside of 

 sections with wax leaves only a very 

 thin coating on the wood of the section 

 about the width that bees build the 

 comb. 



Nothing but pure clean wax is used, 

 nut clarified in any way. The wax is 

 applied hot, at about the temperature 

 of boiling water, and penetrates well 

 into the wood and leaves surface non- 

 absorbant, just as the bees prepare the 

 wood of sections before building the 

 comb thereon. This is an incentive to 

 get the bees to anchor the comb firmly 

 to all four sides of the section, reduces 

 the number of "pop holes," renders 

 the surface non-absorbent and induces 

 the bees to fill more of the outer cells, 

 leaves an ideal surface to attach foun- 

 dation with any style of machine, and 

 the bees build more perfect combs 

 with less rounded edges. Bees accept 

 more readily sections prepared in this 

 manner, the honey grades up better, 

 and the loss from breakage in shipping 

 is reduced to the minimum. Have tried 

 my plan out for two seasons and am 



well satisfied with results obtained. 

 La Crosse, Wis. 



[Producers of section honey will be 

 interested in Mr. Budd's scheme for 

 painting with wax the inside of section 

 boxes. Just how much of practical 

 value there is in the plan, it is not easy 

 to say. It certainly looks as if a sur- 

 face of wax upon which to fasten the 

 comb would suit the bees better than 

 one of wood more or less porous. 

 Those who have trouble in getting the 

 bees to fasten the comb to the sides 

 and bottom may find it a paying opera- 

 tion, and even those who do not have 

 such trouble may possibly find the 

 work done a little faster with the waxed 

 surfaces. Of course something de- 

 pends on the time it takes to apply the 

 wax, and Mr. Budd does not tell us 

 about this, nor how he does it. A fair 

 test of the plan would be had by hav- 

 ing a super filled with waxed and un- 

 waxed sections alternating. — c. c. m.] 



No. 19.— The Honey-Producing 

 Plants 



BY FRANK C. PELLETT. 

 {Photoeraiihs bv tke author.) 



THE catalpa tree produces a great 

 profusion of bloom. The blos- 

 soms are so large that a bee can 

 readily crawl right in the heart of the 

 flower. However, I do not remember 

 ever having seen a bee on the blos- 

 soms of one of the trees on our lawn. 

 From my own observation I could 

 never list the catalpa as a honey-pro- 

 ducing tree. It blossoms with us just 

 at the height of the white clover flow 

 when the bees have little inclination to 

 seek other pastures. 



The testimony of those who should 

 be competent observers gives an un- 



FIG. 85.-CATALPA BLOSSOMS 



qualified endorsement of the catalpa as 

 a nectar producer, although I find 

 slight mention of it in our literature. 

 The fact that large areas of these trees 

 are being planted for timber in many 

 places make it of special interest to the 

 beekeeper. The catalpa or Indian 

 bean, Catalpa spcdusa, is a native of 

 the woodlands of southern Indiana and 

 Tennessee, west to Arkansas. This 

 form, known as the hardy catalpa, is 

 also widely planted in Iowa, Illinois, 

 Kansas, Nebraska and other States. 

 There is another similar species closely 

 resembling it which occurs further 

 south, and is common in the Gulf 

 States. 



The leaves are heart-shaped and the 

 blossoms are large, nearly white, and 

 grow in large clusters as shown in 

 Fig. 85. The tree grows very rapidly, 

 furnishing desirable timber for fence 

 posts, telephone poles, railroad ties, etc. 

 In Kansas large areas have been 

 planted by the railroad companies for 

 the purpose of growing ties. Beekeep- 

 ers situated near such plantings should 

 find the trees of material value. 



Atlantic, Iowa. 

 Copyright: 1916. by Frank C. Pellett. 



^ 



Vocational Opportunities in 

 Beekeeping 



From the Standpoint of Apicultnral 

 Instructions 



BY BURTON N. GATES. 



SOME ONE has said that "beekeep- 

 ing is the oldest art under the sun." 

 True, but business beekeeping is 

 young. It is, moreover, becoming much 

 diversified yet sub-divided into narrow 

 specialities, as has the fruit industry, 

 within recent years. There is the honey 

 producer; the one producing extracted 

 honey likely does not produce comb 

 honey and vice versa. There is the bee- 

 rearer or producer, whose sole aim 

 throughout the season may be to 

 ' make" more bees, the surplus stock 

 which he may sell by the colony, nu- 

 cleus, pint or pound. Then there is 

 the professional queen-rearer, whose 

 business it is to rear and mate queen- 

 bees for market. Annually thousands 

 and thousands of these are distributed 

 by mail throughout the country and 

 abroad. In some localities there is a 

 tendency toward specialization in wax 

 production from a commercial stand- 

 point, by no means a negligible prod- 

 uct. Finally there are the specialists 

 who have become expert in handling 

 the products of beekeepers ; in some of 

 these establishments many tons of 

 honey are daily graded, bottled and 

 shipped to market. Massrchusetts has 

 her increasing share in all of these. 



There is another opportunity for the 

 specially trained. With the growing 

 recognition of the young industry 

 comes the demand from all parts of 

 the country, and even abroad, for those 

 who can teach and investigate or or- 

 ganize and develop the industry of a 

 given locality. In many States bee- 

 keepers are requiring of their ento- 

 mologists or beekeeping specialists, 

 field service in the suppression of brood 

 diseases of bees. One who is merely a 

 beekeeper, without college and specia 



