Januarj' 



American Hee Joarnal 



•expense of from $1.00 to $1.50 per col- 

 ony, a surplus yield of from 12 to 15 

 pounds each would cover this, and all 

 above this number of pounds would be 

 a net gain, even though there should 

 be no increase of stores for the winter, 

 which would almost surely result. 



By going over my old records I find 

 that the average yield of section honey 

 per colony during the basswood bloom 

 was 55 pounds, covering a period of 

 over 30 years. This is the average 

 yield per colony of the whole apiary, 

 not the yield of an individual colony. 

 Now, to be on the safe side, suppose 

 we call 50 pounds to be the average 

 yield, or what we could expect one year 

 with another from basswood ; and to 

 make it still more safe, suppose we call 

 this extracted honey instead of section 

 honey, and that the cost of moving 

 would be 20 pounds of that yield — then 

 we would have 30 pounds of that yield 

 for profit. This at 8 cents would give 

 $2.40 profit for each colony moved, or 

 $240 for an apiary of 100 colonies, 

 which would be an item worth consid- 

 ering. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Cement Hive Bottom and Cover 

 —Observation Hives 



BY W. A. MORTON. 



1 am sending a photograph of two 

 hives with cement top and bottom. This 

 top and bottom is made of 3 parts 

 coarse sand, and one part Portland 



Cement Hive Bottoms and Covers. 



cement. For an 8-frame hive I make 

 them 15x24 inches, and one inch thick, 

 and find them the cheapest, cleanest, 

 handiest and best I have ever seen. I 

 use 3 for each hive — one for a top, one 

 for the bottom, and then lay one in 

 front of the hive to keep down grass 

 and weeds, and they are all exactly 

 alike. Pick up one, and it is either a 



top or a bottom. They will not crack, 

 nor warp, nor leak, nor blow off, rot 

 or wear out, and will not harbor bugs, 

 moths nor ants. They need nothing 

 under them. 

 The material for one hive costs 



bees seemed to " boil " the harder for 

 the watching. 



These hives cost $1.50 each, and if all 

 of the beginners in bee-keeping would 

 have one in the window of their living 

 room, where they could sit down by it 



Three Observation Hivves of Bees at a Livisg-Room Window. 



about 8 cents, and I can make one in 

 less time than I can nail up and paint 

 a wooden one. 



I use >^-inch blocks under each cor- 

 ner of the hive for an entrance, or can 

 nail strips on the bottom of the hive. I 

 have used these covers and bottoms 

 summers and winters, and find them 

 satisfactory. I like my bees as close 

 to the ground as possible, as we have 

 many very windy days, and when the 

 hives are up off the ground the bees 

 can scarcely alight. I find them cool- 

 est in summer and much warmer in 

 winter. 



Observation Hives in the Window. 



I also send a picture of a window and 

 3 glass hives with bees in them. One 

 is a regular 8-frame hive-body. The 

 others are made of two 5-inch supers. 

 I made a 1-inch wooden skeleton rab- 

 betted on the inside to hold the glass, 

 and with a glass top I have a very con- 

 venient observation hive. 



Under each one I place a feeder so 

 as to feed whenever I wish. 



In watching the bees I see many 

 wonderful and interesting things that 

 happen in the bee-hive. 



.April 5, 1910, I took about a quart of 

 bees and their queen out of an old nail 

 keg, put them into the standard glass 

 hive, and fed them sugar syrup. They 

 surely did well. Although the season 

 of lOiO was a very poor honey season, 

 they filled the hive and gave 3 supers 

 of surplus honey, and were in fine con- 

 dition. The otiier 2 colonies were not 

 put in until later, and each gave one 

 super of surplus honey. 



These hives were in a south window, 

 and were left uncovered all of the time, 

 and the bees seemed to enjoy living in 

 the light. They were not disturbed or 

 annoyed when we set anything on the 

 hives. They keep the inside of the 

 glass clean. It is an old saying that 

 "the watched pot never boils," but the 



and watch the bees whenever they 

 wanted to, they would find it very in- 

 teresting to themselves and all of the 

 members of the family; and would 

 learn a great many things about the 

 bees and the hive that is a mystery to 

 them now. They will see bees build- 

 ing comb, the queen laying eggs, see 

 the eggs hatch into little larvae, see the 

 nurse-bees feed the larvae and seal them 

 over, and then see the larvse come out 

 of the cells as perfect bees. They 

 would see the field-bees come in with 

 their baskets filled with pollen, and see 

 them shake it ofif over the brood, and 

 the other bees gather it up and put it 

 away. Then other bees come in loaded 

 with honey, which they deposit in the 

 cells, or other bees take from them and 

 put it away. When it gets warm other 

 bees form a line and force air through 

 the hive to ventilate it, and also ripen 

 the honey. If a bug or anything gets 

 into the hive that they want removed, 

 one bee will try it, and if she can not 

 move it, one or a dozen more will come 

 and help, and it has to go. 



Many persons watching the bees 

 come and go from a hive think all of 

 them are gathering honey, but if they 

 had a glass hive they would see that it 

 takes more bees to do the work in the 

 hive than it takes to gather the honey. 



Quenemo, Kan. 



Destroying Moth in Combs 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



In the August numberof the " Abeille 

 De L'Aisne "—the organ of one of the 

 most progressive bee-associations in 

 France— 1 noticed the following: 



"An infallible and infinitely simple recipe 

 for destrosini; mitts and moths, was recently 

 experimented upon with complete success, 

 by a Rouen savant. Mr. Buruet. upon vel- 

 vets silks, woolen rugs and high-priced 

 furs. It consists of the following: 



■ Procure from your druggist carbon 

 ;etrachloride. of which you pour a small 



