l88t 



GL:BAK1KGS JH BEfi CULTtJflE. 



31? 



not unlike wintergreeii and tansy ; but whe- 

 ther or not these enter as ingredients, I am 

 not prepared to say- 

 Well, my hands having been duly smeared 

 with tliisapifuge as directed. I selected a 

 hybrid colony wliich had a dash of Cyprian 

 blood in it. I opened the hive, without 

 smoke. As honey was coming in freely, 

 they were not disposed to act very vicious. 

 I ])laced my hands over the bees, but could 

 not notice that the liquid had any eftect. < 

 Had they been disposed to sting, as I have 

 seen them sometimes, I do not think they 

 would have hesitated to stick their little 

 weapon into my hands, apifuge or no api- 

 fuge. I next poured a few drops of the 

 liquid down among the bees. They imme- 

 diately sent up a wild humming iii the vi- 

 cinity where the liquid had spattered. Two 

 or three bees received a drop or two. These 

 latter died immediately from the effects of 

 the stuff. I then dropped some of the liquid 

 at the entrance. The incoming bees, laden 

 with honey, as soon as they approached 

 within an' inch or two of the alighting- 

 board, hovered about for some little time. 

 After considerable circling they crawled into 

 the entrance. I am convinced of this much: 

 That the liquid is exceedingly offensive to 

 them — that is. before it is dried. I notice 

 that one or two of the correspondents of the 

 B. B. J. claim that bees which at first seem- 

 ed inclined to be hostile, on being presented 

 with the odor of the apifuge became imme- 

 diately quiet, and seemed to regard the 

 hands of the intruder with kindly intent; 

 and not only that, but the odor was so sooth- 

 ing that the bees apparently enjrtyed it. I 

 must say, however, that my experience with 

 it is quite different. 



When the hands are freshly besmeared 

 with the apifuge. the bees will be repelled to 

 a slight extent ; but when the liquid is dried 

 there is no appreciable effect on the bees. I 

 have since tried it in the .Swamp Apiary 

 upon some cross hybrids. Did they become 

 quiet under the benign iiiHuence of the api- 

 fuge ? Not at all. On the contrary, I was 

 obliged to start for the smoker. Whatever 

 may be the merits of apifuge. I can not but 

 think that the behavior of the apiarist, and 

 his control of his nerves, has more to do in 

 the prevention of stings than any liquid that 

 can be compounded. If the apifuge has any 

 effect whatever upon the hands of beginners 

 it seems to me it would make them feel 

 more secure, and so give them better control 

 of the nerves. 



KLAT-HOTTOM VEKSUS NATITRAL-BASE 

 FOUNDATIftN. 



There seems to have been a little diversi- 

 ty of opinion in regard to the two makes of 

 foundation as above. By some it is thought 

 that Hat-bottom foundation, inasmuch as it 

 is a deviation from nature, is not so econom- 

 ical as the natural base. Our good friend 

 Mr. T. F. Bingham, however, seems to 

 think — or, at least, so expressed it a few 

 months ago to the writer in person — that 

 the Hat-bottom foimdation, as it had so lit- 

 tle side wall, was better for the surplus 

 department ; that when the comb, on being 

 drawn out and eaten, the disagreeable 



" backbone ■' could not be delected, or would 

 not be so apparent, as with the natural-base 

 fouiKhition 



A few years ago we made some experi- 

 ments that seemed to prove then that bees 

 had to waste considerable valuable time in 

 converting the llat-bottom cells into natu- 

 ral-base cells. As we have sold considerable 

 rtat-bottom foundation this year. I deter- 

 mined to experiment again, at least on a 

 small scale. As honey was not coming in 

 to any great extent, I selected the strong- 

 est hybrid colony we had. I contracted the 

 brood-nest down to only two frames. 1 am 

 aware that, for general purposes, this is 

 carrying contraction too far ; but for my' 

 own purpose I desired to have the bees in 

 question store into sections almost every 

 particle of the little honey that they hail 

 gathered, in order to induce them to pull 

 out foundation for the purpose above 

 named. Tw^o T supers were prepared and 

 filled with sections, 4i- x Ai x If, no sep- 

 arators being used. Half of the sections 

 were filled with full sheets of our thinnest 

 flat-bottom foundation. The other half was 

 filled witli full sheets of our thinnest natu- 

 ral-base foundation. When the sections 

 were put into the crate they were arranged 

 in alternation, in order that we might the 

 better compare results as the bees began to 

 pull them out. We waited three or four 

 days before honey came in enough for the 

 bees to make any demonstration '' upstairs."' 

 Just as soon as they did so, however, I 

 watched them closely. Each section having 

 flat-bottom foundation in it was marked 

 with a cross, so that, as the work progress- 

 ed, I could easily distinguish the kind of 

 foundation v/hich we put in. Some sections 

 were filled out a little in advance of others. 

 Which sections do you think they were V 

 They were those which had no cross-marks 

 on the tops (natural base). Although the 

 sections bearing the crosses had an equal 

 advantage with those next to them, the 

 bees, instead of pulling out the flat-bottom 

 foundation immediately, tore holes in it and 

 remodeled the base before they attempted to 

 draw it out. This consumed considerable 

 time, and the result showed quite plainly 

 that the bees would convert into comb, in 

 less time, foundation having a natural base 

 than foundation having flat bottom. A sec- 

 ond examination has confirmed me in all 

 the above statements. 



It may be. however, that, if I had the op- 

 portunity of conducting the experiment on 

 a larger scale, I might see little if any differ- 

 ence in favor of either; at all events. Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, having purchased some 50 lbs. 

 of the rtat-bottom foundation, has this same 

 matter under experiment, if I am correct. 



HOW TO HANDLE SECTIONS FILLED WITH 

 HONEY. 



During Dr. Miller's late visit, among oth- 

 er little hints that he spoke of in connection 

 with our pursuit he mentioned a little trick 

 in handling sections filled with honey, so as 

 to pick them up rapidly, and yet with entire 

 safety to the nice and evenly filled combs. 

 From the engraving on next page, tlie read- 

 I er will catch the idea. 



