'May, 1910. 



American Hee Journal 



have a swarm your ma takes a hive to 

 the swarm to be hived and then moves 

 the hive after dark. I do not consider 

 this the best plan, because a newly- 

 hived swarm goes to work at once, 

 and they mark their location, and after 

 being moved many bees return to that 

 location, possibly to perish. I would 

 solve the problem like this: Place an 

 empty hive on its permanent location, 

 and then bring the swarm to the hive. 

 This lightens the work, and is much 

 more satisfactory, for if hives are car- 

 ried about after the swarm has entered, 

 frames may be jolted apart and combs 

 would then not be satisfactory. 



Your uncle, Jimson Ragweed. 



A Boy BeeKeeper— Hiving Swarms. 



Dear Uncle Jimson:— I am now 3 years 

 old. I go to school and to Sunday-school, and 

 I help pa with the bees. We have 7 colonies, 

 and pa is Boing to get a slinsrer. 



Pa says to thank you for the picture with 

 your hair down on your shoulders. Ma says 

 she thinks you look more like grandpa Rag- 

 weed than any of the boys. 



Pa wants me to ask you how you hive a 

 swarm of bees. Pa pours them in at the top 

 of the hive, but when he puts the lid on he 

 smashes some of the bees, and then we feel 

 so sorry. 



I have 64 Lincoln pennies and a dog. Has 

 Steve and Eva got a dog? 



If you get this, write soon. 



James Ragweed. 



Dear Little Jimmie: — I am sur- 

 prised that you can write such nice 

 letters. Tell your pa that I think the 

 best way to hive a new swarm is to 

 pour the bees at the entrance of the 

 hive after having the empty hive on its 

 permanent location. As soon as a few 

 bees get started in they will hum a 

 note of "Home, sweet home," and they 

 will just scramble over one another to 

 get in. Xot a bee will be killed. I am 

 like you, I always feel sorry when I see 

 a bee destroyed. 



Steve and Eva have no dog, but they 

 have 7 or 8 cats. 



Our best wishes to all of you, and 

 you must write again to your uncle. 

 Jimson Ragweed. 

 Bee-Keepixg as a Business. 



Mr. Ragweed;— I have seen your name in 

 one of the bee-papers, and I would like the 

 privilege of asking a few questions about the 

 Bee-business. I am thinkingof taking up the 

 business as an exclusive line, but I have had 

 no experience. About how many hives 

 shoulci I keep? What race of bees do you 

 recommend? My library is quite complete 

 on bee-literature, and I find the subject very 

 fascinating. Pardon me for intruding on 

 your valuable time, but I would be much 

 pleased to hear from you. 



William Taftvelt. 



Mr. Taftvelt : — The bee-business, 

 like all other agricultural pursuits, has 

 its ups and downs, and some seasons 

 we have near failures. I have never 

 seen a season so poor that bees would 

 not produce some surplus in your 

 locality, either from white clover or 

 fall flfowers. In your location you 

 would have a home market for all you 

 produce, which would be in your favor. 

 In a good season profits are excellent, 

 and I have known a single colony to 

 net its owner as much as $20. It would 

 be unfair to expect such a yield regu- 

 larly, but I think one-fourth the amount, 

 or $-5 per colony, as an average, would 

 be fair. I do know that in your locality 

 you could realize 20 cents per pound 

 for comb honey and 1-5 cents for ex- 

 tracted. Retail dealers are getting this 

 price, and the public would much pre- 

 fer to buy from the man who has the 

 bees. 



As to making it an exclusive business, 

 you should have at least 100 colonies, 

 and then it might be well to establish 

 out-apiaries of 75 to 100 colonies. 



As to race of bees, I prefer the gen- 

 tle Italians, but personally I would not 

 try very much to keep up a high stan- 

 dard of purity where honey alone was 

 my object. I am very partial to the 

 gentle strains of bees, and I have be- 

 headed many queens because their bees 

 were inclined to be cross. 



Poultry and small fruit go nicely with 

 the bee-business, and I have often 

 thought it might be well to have some 

 other line on which to fall back in a 

 poor season. 



One other thing: One may be thor- 

 oughly well read on any subject, but in 

 learning many of the details, actual ex- 

 perience is required, and on this ac- 

 count I usually advise beginners to 

 start with a few colonies and then in- 

 crease as experience may suggest. That 

 the business is fascinating to you is 

 much in your favor, and yet any one 

 who studies the bee is bound to be- 

 come deeply interested. I have kept 

 bees for many years, and have no in- 

 tention of giving it up, although I 

 could take the agency for a certain 

 brand of rattle-snake oil and make 

 much more money. 



Very truly, Jimson Ragweed. 



Easy Comb-Honey Production 



BY W. K. MORRISON. 



There are hundreds of readers of the 

 American Bee Journal who would like 

 to find some way to produce comb 

 honey as easily as extracted is now 

 produced. They can sell comb honey 

 readily, but it costs too much in time 

 and trouble, and extracted honey is too 

 hard to sell. 



If you are in the above class, I wish 

 to ask the favor of your closest atten- 

 tion, hoping you will do me the honor 

 of following my directions to the letter. 

 You will undoubtedly be told that pro- 

 ducing comb honey in this way is im- 

 practicable, etc. Please do not mind 

 such advice for once at least, and try 

 the experiment yourself. 



There are certain facts that should 

 be borne in mind at all times, when we 

 are producing comb honey. 



First, swarming is the stumbling 

 block in comb-honey production. If 

 you control this without in any wise 

 weakening the bees you have made a 

 great step forward. The usual plans 

 recommended are an aggravation rather 

 than help. Mr. Louis H. Scholl recom- 

 mends a plan that is certainly effective, 

 but not all of us can dispose of canned 

 comb honey. In the meantime we want 

 something practical until the Scholl 

 idea has gained more ground. 



At the present time, when we put 

 a comb-honey super on a strong col- 

 ony, the net effect is to cause the col- 

 ony to swarm. In any case it does not 

 keep the bees from swarming. When 

 a super with frames of comb is put on, 

 the case is different. Suarminff is ar- 

 rested al u/icc, and if this policy is con- 

 sistently carried out the whole season, 

 there will be no swarming worth men- 

 tioning. Why? 



Our English cousins have gone a 

 step further by adding a super below 



the brood. The bees are not expected 

 to use this super, but the added space 

 tends to check the swarming impulse. 

 Do you see the point? Well, it is this: 

 A large vacant space is necessary. A 

 super with a lot of partitions is not re- 

 garded by the bees as a vacant space. 

 On the contrary, the bees have to be 

 compclUd to enter it. MSflj 



The idea now presented is to create 

 a comb-honey super that closely re- 

 sembles a super for extracted honey. 

 The fewer partitions the better, and 

 the nearer the sections correspond to 

 frames the better. They must be about 

 the same width. Let me state the 

 specifications : 



1. Sections must be open on all 4 

 sides. 



2. Sections as narrow as possible — 

 not more than \y% inches from center 

 to center. 



3. Dr. Miller's T-super. 



4. Absolutely no separators. 



.5. Starters ; if full sheets are used 

 they must be attached on all sides. 



6. Hives set perfectly level. Use a 

 brick-layer's spirit-level. 



The first two points are very impor- 

 tant. No success need be anticipated 

 unless these are strictly adhered to. 



I discovered long ago that bees can- 

 not make straight combs if the thick- 

 ness is greater than one inch. They 

 will make reasonably smooth combs 

 when the width allowed is not more 

 than l^s inches from center to center. 

 They will do better at 1 '4 inches from 

 center to center, and even better at l^s 

 from center to center. Bees allow only 

 % of an inch between two Aowcv-combs, 

 so that the thickness of comb at \yi 

 from center to center is almost one 

 inch. 



I once made a lot of hives with sec- 

 tions in the brood-chamber instead of 

 frames. They were spaced at different 

 widths. At 1 '4 inches I secured the 

 best results. The worst results were 

 obtained at 2 inches. 



You will have some trouble in get- 

 ting narrow sections, as bee-supply 

 men do not have them in stock. To 

 get around this difficulty buy plain sec- 

 tions, and cut the insets yourself. They 

 may look a little rough, but your cus- 

 tomers won't mind that in the least. I 

 used a Langdon mitre-box to cut the 

 insets, using a chisel to gouge out 

 afterwards. 



You can readily make the T-super 

 by purchasing long boards cut the 

 right width and thickness at the plan- 

 ing mill. T-tins can be had by e.x- 

 press or mail. The outside sections 

 require an extra bee-space, but little 

 chips of section stuff will provide that. 

 There is no harm in using a follower. 



To get good results the supers should 

 be placed on in ample time. One of 

 the causes of swarming is too much 

 honey in the brood-apartment. The 

 queen finds herself restricted for room 

 to lay, and concludes the hive is full up. 

 Another point that must not be over- 

 looked is ventilation. During hot 

 weather provide an entrance to each 

 super or story by pulling it back a lit- 

 tle till there is just enough room for 

 the bees to pass out. Also, pull the 

 cover sidewise a little until the space 

 between the follower and the side is 

 exposed. I know full well what the 

 text-books say about this matter. But 



