May, 1910. 



American ~Bae Journal 



smoker in the right hand, the left raises 

 off the covers in a jiffy, jars the Ijees 

 off on the ground in front of the hive, 

 and places it against the tree behind, 

 while a puff or two of smoke keeps 

 down the bees. The next hive re- 

 ceives the same treatment, and then 

 the next, and in 5 jiffies all the covers 



that's so easy, everything is always in 

 place, the trees standing ready for you 

 at all times. This saves much valuable 

 time, as there is none wasted looking 

 for a place to put the covers, or look- 

 ing for them when they are scattered 

 around when the hives are to be closed 

 again. 



Fig. 3.— Grui'I' of I-ive Hi\ ks-JSii'KRs in I'l.^ce. 



are piled against the tree, with the 

 smoker sitting on top of them, as 



shown. 



Now the 5 supers are lifted off the 

 cart ill one toad (they are light), and set 

 on the first hive opened, the lower one 

 released, and 4 set on the next hive, 

 releasing each lower one until only 

 one super remains for the last of the 

 group. 



Now the smoker is grabbed again 

 with the right hand, a whiff or two of 

 smoke chases the few bees that have 

 had time to crawl up to the top out of 

 the way, and the left hand replaces the 

 covers in several jiffies more; and 



In Fig. 3 we again see the same 

 group of 5 hives, supers and covers all 

 in place, and it has all happened so 

 quickly that the bees below hardly 

 know it happened. We do not stop to 

 smoke at the entrances when we put 

 on supers. Not necessary ; only a 

 waste of time when bees are gathering 

 honey, and it would only set tliem back 

 or disturb them unnecessarily. This is 

 quite an item, as it saves time for the 

 operator and the bees. 



This is given for those who wish to 

 arrange their hives systematically; and 

 what better arrangement could one 

 wish? 



Contributed Articles 



Old Comb Foundation-Will 

 Bees Work It? 



BY C. r. DADANT. 



I see in the April number of the 

 American Bee Journal that several ask 

 the above question of Dr. C. C. Miller, 

 and he answers it favorably. As I have 

 made experiments on it, I thought best 

 to mention them. 



Years ago the statement was made in 

 the bee-papers that comb foundation 

 became worthless with age ; that the 

 bees would cut it out. I decided to 

 test this for myself. I had at that time, 

 in the upper room of our shop, a box 

 of foundation of an odd size which had 

 been made for a special order, and the 

 one ordering it had countermanded the 

 order. As it was a large size, and we 

 did not wish to work it over or cut it, 

 we had put the box away, lioping 

 to fill an order with it sooner or 



later. But it had been forgotten and 

 had laid there two full years. I used a 

 sheet of this to make my test. 



In June, when the bees were at work 

 and storing some honey, I placed this 

 sheet of foundation in the center of a 

 colony. Then I took a sheet of fresh- 

 run foundation and placed it also in 

 the center of the same hive, with only 

 one frame of brood between the two. 

 They were therefore on an equal foot- 

 ing — old and fresh alike. 



Two days later 1 opened the hive and 

 found both sheets drawn and eggs laid 

 in both. This, it seems to me, ought to 

 be sufficient evidence that old founda- 

 tion is as good as new, even if there 

 might be a few hours of difference in 

 the acceptance of it by the bees. 



But now let me explain why old 

 foundation is considered as less readily 

 accepted by the bees, and why the bees 

 sometimes cut holes in it. 



Beeswax has peculiar properties. My 



readers all know that it becomes so 

 by heating, and finally melts when 

 enough heat is applied. But many do 

 not know that when beeswax has been 

 heated, it retains its flexibility for quite 

 a time, even if the heat is not continued. 

 I may very well compare it to iron, for 

 it may be malleable or brittle accord- 

 ing to the manner of rendering it and 

 manipulating it. It has similar proper- 

 ties to those of iron also in this, that . 

 time acts upon its malleability. Those C 

 of you who have used wire for fences, 

 or for grape-trellis, know that new 

 wire, fresh from the factory, is not 

 brittle unless tempered. But those 

 who have seen the same wire on their 

 fence or on their grape-arbor for 30 

 years, know also that at the end of that 

 time, even if it is galvanized, the wire 

 is much more brittle. So it is with 

 beeswax. It is more brittle, and there- 

 fore harder, when it is old. To give 

 back to iron its ductility, it is necessary 

 to melt it. But not so with beeswax. 

 It takes much less to give it back its 

 flexibility. Heating to blood heat or a 

 little more will render it flexible again. 



If we have foundation from the pre- 

 vious years in our hives outside of the 

 cluster, this foundation has become 

 hard and is not attractive to the bees. 

 Neither is old comb, until they have 

 covered it for a few hours and given it 

 their heat. But fresh foundation only 

 a few days old, used by the apiarist, 

 still shows a softness similar to that of 

 new-built comb. The bees, therefore, 

 take to it with great eagerness. That 

 is why many apiarists will tell you that 

 old foundation is not so readily ac- 

 cepted by the bees. But just as soon 

 as that old foundation is covered by 

 the cluster it becomes warmed up, and 

 within a very few hours will be as soft 

 and acceptable as the new-made. Of 

 course, if both the old and the new are 

 put into supers, the bees will not hesi- 

 tate and will appropriate the new foun- 

 dation more promptly because it is 

 more malleable. But if you do as I did 

 in the experiment referred to above, 

 and place both kinds in the center of 

 the cluster, the difference in the ac- 

 ceptance of the two by the bees will be 

 so little marked that you will not be 

 able to detect it after the lapse of 48 

 hours. 



Now, why do bees cut holes in foun- 

 dation that has been in the hive a long 

 time? If you were to watch them you 

 would see that they use the particles 

 thus cut to repair the combs within the 

 cluster. This cutting of holes in foun- 

 dation is always done when they do 

 not see the possibility of using it where 

 it is outside of the cluster. 



There are, however, exceptions to all t% 

 cases. Some foundation may be so 'fl 

 covered with dust that the bees have 

 repugnance to use it. .You find similar 

 instances with dried-up combs which 

 are given them in partly-built sections. 

 I have sometimes seen the bees build 

 new combs in preference to using old 

 ones that were within their reach. But 

 give them old combs in the center of 

 the cluster and see whether they do not 

 use them quickly. If there is anything 

 moldy or objectionable about such 

 combs, when they are inserted by the 

 apiarist in the heart of the brood-nest, 

 they soon cut out the objectionable 

 parts and make new work out of the 



