April, 1910. 



American Hee Journal 



manipulations make us the more dol- 

 lars and cents. 



And, again, we want the best, strong 

 frame possible for our purpose, for it 

 differs from the production of extracted 

 honey, in that since the combs are cut 

 from these frames, the frames scraped 

 clean and foundation put in each time 

 they have been tilled, they are handled 

 much more, and therefore receive much 

 more rough usage. Our frames are 

 strong and easily manipulated. 



The self-spacing idea is to be greatly 

 prefif'cd for our purpose, since all of 

 oui- manipulations deal with whole 

 supers of these frames, once they are 

 filled with foundation, and the frames 

 are not again handled until the finished 

 product is to be cut out of them in the 

 honey-house. We have tried many 

 kinds, but the advantages of the self- 

 spaced ever-ready-in-position frames 

 beat them all ; yea, not only that, but 

 for our rapid, get-there, money-making 

 work, unspaced frames are entirely out 

 of the question for our purpose. Our 

 system demands that when the frames 

 are once ready for the hives, they be in 

 the supers so that the whole thing can 

 be "slapped" on to the hive in a sec- 

 ond ; the same when they come off in 

 a wholesale manner when full. All 

 this w^ill be described in due time. 



Returning to some of the advantages 

 of our narrow, thick, top-bars, we cite 

 their greater strength, no sagging, and 

 hence no unevenness of the tops of the 

 frames, allowing bur and brace comb 

 building, which is a great nuisance in 

 our rapid work ; this extra strength at 

 the same time making a stronger frame, 

 allowing freer communication between 

 the frames and from one story to an- 

 other on account of the wider space 

 between top-bars of one frame and the 

 next, which is worth many hundreds of 

 pounds of honey otherwise lost on 

 account of the discouraging feature of 

 the wide top-bar shallow frames; and 

 making the examination of the con- 

 tents of the frames much easier in that 

 a glance between the top-bars of such 

 frames reveals more than can be ascer- 

 tained with wide top-bars and narrow 

 spaces. 



All of the above applies equally well, 

 if not more so, to the brood-chambers 

 if such shallow, narrow top-bar frames 

 are used throughout, as we do in the 

 hives we have described in a former 

 article. By using these frames thus we 

 have found them to be an ideal frame 

 for all purposes, as well as for the pro- 

 duction of fancv comb honey. 



Light Honey Consumption this Winter — 

 I " Chunk " Honey 



Bees have consumed less stores here this 

 winterthan usual. This is from two differ- 

 ent causes, I think; the principal one be- 

 ing the steady cold we have had the present 

 winter. The second one is. the bees were 

 not as strong as they often are when we have 

 a fall honey-fiow. The past year was very 

 dry. and we had no fall flow here. 



Mr. Scholl, your articles on the production 

 of " chunk" honey are very interesting: read- 

 ing, and show you have worked out a system 

 pretty much your own. and that you have 

 had much practical experience, both in the 

 production and sale of such honey. I have 

 worked my apiaries mostly for extracted 

 honev, but am working my bees now more 

 and more for " chunk " honey, for which I 

 have a good demand. I hardly think the 

 production of chunk honey will ever 

 supersede section honey in the North as it 



has here in the South. There are several 

 reasons for thinking this, a few of which I 

 will mention ; 



In the first place, it would seem the people 

 of the North had become thoroughly edu- 

 cated to the use. or consumption, of section 

 honey, which is not the case in many of the 

 Southern States. Then, it is seldom we 

 have a A'ci'i/honey-fliiw of long enough dura- 

 tion to produce a first-class section honey; 

 while in most of the Northern States the 

 honey-Hows are fast and strong compared 

 with ours, and it is much easier to produce 

 nice section honey there than here. Then, 

 from my knowledge of inuchof tlie Northern 

 honey, it is very much inclined to granulate. 

 more so than the honey we usually put up 

 here for chunk honey; and I want to cau- 

 tion the would-be chunk-honey producer 

 tliere. as well as here, to be very careful 

 about putting up any honey as chunk honey 

 that is Quick to granulate. From what I 

 know of alfalfa honey, it would not be at all 

 suitable to put up in that way. Some chunk 

 honey was shipped into this locality a few 

 years ago that was n// granulated on arrival, 

 and caused much dissatisfaction among the 

 consumers. 



So mv advice to those who live in a locality 

 that has fast and good honey-flows, where 

 section honey is easily produced, to try 

 chunk honey only on a small scale. No. I 

 don't believe chunk honey will ever become 

 as much of a staple article in the North as it 

 has become in the South. L. B. Smith. 



Rescue. Texas. 



De.-^r Mr. Smith : — You surmise right- 

 ly when you lay the main cause of light 

 honey consumption of the past winter 

 to the long continued and steady cold 

 weather, but since our very strong, 

 rousing colonies have shown the same 

 thing in that respect, it seems that the 

 weakness of the colonies did not have 

 so much to do with it. 



It is not my intention, as stated in a 

 former article, to have bulk-comb 

 honey take the place of the section 



honey entirely, in the North, as it ha 

 done here, in which you are right to 

 this extent. But, Mr. Smith, it is a 

 mistake to state that we seldom have 

 good honey-flows here in the South, 

 yea, even in Texas, and you'll have a 

 big wasp's-nest full of bee-keepers 

 jumping up and down on you if yoii 

 don't mind, for we have many ideal 

 locations where the finest section 

 honey can be produced, and where the 

 honey-flows for quantity and rapidity 

 of the flows cannot be surpassed any- 

 where. On the other hand, I know 

 personally, also, that there are just as 

 many places in the North where the 

 honey-flows are not better than you 

 have in your own locality; where it is 

 a difficult matter to produce good sec- 

 tion honey; and where bulk-comb 

 honey would prove much more profit- 

 able for the producer, and more eco- 

 nomical for the consumer, than section 

 honey. It is these we are trying to 

 reach, as well as a multitude who could 

 make more money out of bulk-comb honey 

 production than section honey, no mat- 

 ter what kind, or how good, honey- 

 flows they may have. 



We want the would-be bulk-comb- 

 honey producers to go slow, to be 

 sure, and such a warning has been 

 given already; but it should be tried 

 by the majority on a small scale, at 

 least. 



As much of our honey here granu- 

 lates just as readily as anywhere else, 

 and it is not such a serious obstacle, I 

 shall leave this for a separate article in 

 due time. 



National Bee-Keepers' Association 



General Manager. N. E.France. Platteville. Wis. 



R. L. Taylor, Chairman of the Board 

 of Directors, has been having the 

 grippe. 



The winter losses of bees are quite 

 heavy in places. Some report 7-5 per- 

 cent loss. 



Each new member gets a copy of the 

 1909 Annual Report free, as long as the 

 supply lasts, which is getting low. 



The present honey prospects are 

 good except in Southern California, 

 where they have had no rains for 9 

 weeks. 



The membership enrollment today 

 (March 26) is 3700. The President's 

 mark of 5000 is fast coming in sight. 

 Let the good work go on. 



Information Bulletin No. 1-5 has just 

 been mailed to members. This is of 

 value only as each member uses it. To 

 many it is worth the dues of several 

 years. 



If each National member would work 

 to get new members like our recent 

 candidate for President (Thomas Chan- 

 try) has done, we would number 5000 

 by the close of the honey harvest. Why 

 not do this? 



The second edition of " Bee-Keepers' 

 Legal Rights" has just been mailed to 

 the membership. It is a reference vol- 

 ume, which every bee-keeper should 

 have in his library. Paid up members 



get a free copy. There are none for 

 sale to outsiders. 



If our members who produce ex- 

 tracted honey will follow the advice 

 given in Information Bulletin No. 1.5, 

 there will be a great demand for honey 

 with hopes of better prices next fall. 

 The bulletin contains the following on 

 this subject : 



Great Dem.^nd for Honey. 



" I have devoted much time to discover 

 why so many complain of no market for 

 their honey. I have asked 15 wholesale deal- 

 ers why honey-sales were slow when other 

 foods found ready sale at high prices. I also 

 asked bee-keepers who buy tons of honey 

 besides their own for bottling, and also 

 asked many who used to be extensive honey- 

 eaters, why they have dropped it from their 

 daily food. Almost every one replies with 

 this answer: 



" * Good, well-ripened honey, sealed by the 

 bees, and matured in the hives, is always in 

 demand at fair prices. But this thin stuff, 

 extracted before it is ready — before it is well 

 ripened— that will sour— that never has 

 either flavor or body— /Aa/ is what spoils the 

 market for honey.' 



'Through the Information Bureau I have 

 had sent me many offers of honey to sell. 

 For several such lots I found sales, and later 

 received word from the purchasers that the 

 thin honey had no bodv or flavor, except 

 souring. If every member of the National 

 Association will promise me that all his honey 

 will be rifi(, cap fiei-aver honev helove it leaves 

 the hives, he will have a market which he 

 never can supply. Our Association never 

 can brand the honey of its members until 

 this is done." 



