March, 1910. 



American Hee Jonrnal 



that I told you of. and used for baits, or re- 

 served for furtlicr use as extractiriK combs. 

 The uses for tough combs are legion. By 

 this method there is no hreakinn down when 

 extracting, plenty of extracted honey to fill 

 up with, and all sells as extracted honey— 10 

 cents a pound. 



We /1,1-,'r section supers, and these are put 

 on when the flow is heavy, and the colony 

 strong, wlien the bees enter them willingly. 

 When the flow is light we get all the honey 

 there is for them to get. whereas, if we had 

 vn/y sections, we would get half-filled or 

 " thin " sections, and most likely none at all. 

 T!ie sections (A' bring a good price, of course, 

 but then they are often hard to get. as they 

 must be /////.■ and then, there is no end of 

 expense, trouble and worry with them, un- 

 less the flow is heavy enough to justify one. 



The light weights and unfinished sections 

 are cut out and placed in vessels with the 

 bulk honey. 



We have also a very few 8-frame hives, 

 and in them we place the full 8. as they are 

 not such a tight fit as the lo-frame super; 

 and then, we like to have the little square 

 sections, as some of our customers prefer 

 them to the tall ones: the majority, though, 

 prefer the tall ones (4x5). The thing is. to 

 Plfiisf our iNstonuTs when we can possibly do 

 so. without too much drawback to ourselves. 



So you see that by rinining for bulk honey 

 we are at all times ready to give them ex- 

 tracted or bulk comb. and. when conditions 

 are right, section honey, too. 



Some of our contemporaries will say that 

 bulk honey is old-fashioned and slipshod, or 

 slovenly; but. let me tell you. the old-fash- 

 ioned way, in this instance, is more profit- 

 able and simple, and not slipshod or slov- 

 enly, because the comb is neatly cut (not 

 torn, as in the old days '.and the liquid honey 

 is t-xtfiutfj, not strained through any old 

 thing from brood-combs and "bee-bread" 

 and what-not, with hands clean or otherwise. 



The consumer gets a full pound every time, 

 and for less money. The producer can care 

 for more colonies with less help and less ex- 

 pense, and has a more certain crop, less loss 

 of time, and far more profitable, in that one 

 can sell ^ pounds of honey where only one 

 could be sold before, when one runs for 

 bulk honey. Just try this and advertise it as 

 liberally as you would the sections, and see 

 if it is not as I say. 



One of the uses we have for tough combs 

 is when catchingswarmsor making increase. 

 To a N-ery small swarm we give ^ combs in 

 the center, and the rest frames with starters; 

 the combs having pollen are very desirable. 

 A medium swarm receives one comb of pol- 

 len, one of empty comb, and the rest of 

 starters. When transferring, a strong col- 

 ony gets starters only: a weak one gets 

 empty combs, and combs with pollen, and 

 sometimes with brood and honey. Increas- 

 ing is conducted in the same manner. 



By using the above method we have never 

 lost a swarm or colony. Then when one 

 places a full super of combs on top, don't 

 you know one gets combs ready for extract- 

 in? quickly. 



Another use we have for tough combs is in 

 keeping down swarming. We go to (say hive 

 No. I. which has only one 10-frame shallow 

 super;, and remove 5 frames— 2 from one 

 side and i from the other. We then replace 

 them with 2 frames with starters on each 

 side, then divide the 4 frames of brood that 

 were left, and place a frame of comb in the 

 center. On top of them we place a reserve 

 super, and in it one frame of starters, one of 

 comb; then the ? which were removed from 

 below, one of comb, and one of starters in 

 succession as stated, then the cover. As a 

 rule, we find 2 of the 5 with honey, which are 

 extracted and others put in their places. 

 We will now say that hive Xo. 2 has 2 shallow- 

 supers for a brood-chamber. We manipu- 

 late in the same way. and use the extra 5 in 

 making increase, or give them to some weak 

 colony that is not likely to have the tendency 

 to swarm. The frames, of course, are free 

 of bees. 



I notice some seem to think we might ex- 

 tract " while the brood is in all stages" (no- 

 tice Gleanings for Dec. 15. looo. page 762-^^ : 

 but not so. If the brood is not all capped 

 those frames are not extracted, but left in 

 the hive or given to a weak colony. And 

 then, is it necessary to sling so vigorously? 



And now allow me to congratulate Ye Edi- 

 tor on that splendid index that accompanied 

 the December issue. Thank you very much 

 for it. As I have saved all my year's num- 

 bers it is a great convenience to us. Also 

 how pretty the covers are now. I. for one. 

 don't mind the rise in subscription price. 



Eola. Tex.. Jan. 7. (Mrs.; M. E. Friitt. 



The advantage of having 9 frames in 

 a 10-frame super for bulk honey needs 



no argument; as to the brood-cham- 

 ber, there may be differences of opinion. 

 Are you sure that when more room is 

 given the cells will be made any deeper, 

 so long as the width remains the same? 

 In the super there will be more honey 

 with it frames than with 10 frames, but 

 in the brood-chamber only 9-10 as 

 much brood can be put in frames as in 

 10. But perhaps you find the advan- 

 tage of having all cotiibs interchange- 

 able so as to be used either for the 

 brood-chamber or the surplus apart- 

 ment overbalances all disadvantages. 



Most assuredly you are right as to 

 extracting from frames containing un- 

 sealed brood. Whoever does that is 

 taking a long step towards injuring the 

 credit of extracted honey. 



There is much discussion at present 

 about bulk honey, and this very timely 

 article will no doubt be of great inter- 

 est to the bee-keeping sisters. Many 

 thanks for such clear and explicit in- 

 fonnation. 



Myrrh, Borax and Honey Mouth-Wash 



Rub together '/i ounce each of pul- 

 verized borax and extracted honey, add 

 gradually one pint of pure alcohol and 

 one-half ounce each of gum myrrh and 

 red Saunders wood. Let the whole 

 stand in a wide-mouthed bottle for two 

 weeks. Shake the bottle occasionally. 

 Pass through filtering paper. Add a 

 few drops of water and use as a mouth- 

 wash. — Mme. Qui Vive, in the Chicago 

 Record-Herald. 



A ur J^ 



Canadian 

 'Beedom 



p . _ 



Conducted bv J. L. B YER, Mount Joy. Ont. 



^^^, 



^>o 



Honey Crop Pretty Well Sold 



In a recent issue I commented on 

 the extraordinary demand for honey 

 during the present season, and up to 

 the time of this writing the demand 

 still continues. Before writing these 

 notes today, my first duty was to an- 

 swer some letters asking for honey, 

 and I know of only one place to direct 

 them to, and for all I know the person 

 referred to may not have any left. This 

 is unusual for this time of the year, 

 particularly as some of the inquiries 

 come from dealers who usually stock 

 up in the fall heavy enough for the 

 season's trade. Such a condition cer- 

 tainly augurs well for the sale of the 

 crop this year, should we be fortunate 

 enough to secure one. 



Snow Protecting Alsike Clover 



The steady winter already alluded tO' 

 with a nice covering of snow all over 

 the clover since early in December, 

 should insure good wintering of the 

 alsike, the source of our main honey 

 crop. I said main crop, but in so far 

 as this immediate section is concerned, 

 I might more truthfully say the only 

 source of white honey, as, for some 

 reason, white clover never amounts to 

 anything around here. 



What a Bee-Woman Can Do 



Miss Wilson asked in her Depart- 

 ment, in January, " Why can't we have 

 more lady bee-keepers at our conven- 

 tions?" A pertinent question, truly, 

 when we consider how many men bee- 

 keepers are indebted to their wives so 

 much for whatever success they may 

 have attained in their business. Of 

 course this will hold true in any busi- 



ness, but it seems to the writer that the 

 fact is more apparent with bee-keepers 

 than any other class, as the more I 

 come in contact with members of the 

 craft the more I am impressed with 

 the fact that an unusual number have 

 such efficient helpers in their own 

 homes. Indeed, we might just as per- 

 tinently ask, Why do not more lady 

 bee-keepers write up their experiences 

 for the bee-papers, for it looks as if in 

 most cases the ladies are the siVi-nf 

 fa>-tni:rs. as we so seldom hear from 

 them. Perhaps it may be because of 

 the thought that the men say so much 

 that the women get disgusted, and 

 think that by writing they would but 

 aggravate the oflfence ! At least I am 

 afraid that may be the case in our 

 house, for although my good wife has 

 been asked by the Editor of this Jour- 

 nal to write occasionally for Miss Wil- 

 son's Department, she steadfastly re- 

 fuses, and says that I say enough for 

 bol/i oi us ; — although she did not say 

 so, yet I rather suspect she would will- 

 ingly change the word "enough "for 

 " too much." 



However, at the risk of getting my 

 hair pulled, I am going to tell the read- 

 ers of the American Bee Journal what 

 one woman did last season in the way 

 of wielding the uncapping-knife, even 

 if it does mean the necessity of my 

 apologizing for permitting her to have 

 done so much heavy work. 



To make a long story short, the 

 woman in question, all by herself, un- 

 capped, during the season of 1909, some- 

 thing over 30,000 pounds of honey; in 

 fact, there was only one day that ex- 

 tracting was done that she was not 

 present with us. 



Now for the apology : Briefly stated, 

 in the first place, she likes the work 

 even if a steady day's uncapping does 

 tire her a good deal ; and, in the sec- 



