April 23, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



263 



have clung to a fallacy repeated o'er and o'er, first made by 

 some one who only ^«fiit'</ that he was telling the truth. 

 And I expect that this matter of only fall-cleaned scclions 

 will turn out the same way when careful experiments are 

 made along this line. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Sulphuring Honey to Protect from Bee- 

 Moths. 



BY D. M. KKTCHAM. 



I OFTEN notice in the American Bee Journal references 

 to fumes of sulphur having injurious effect on honey- 

 comb and not killing the larvaj of bee-moths. As I have 

 acquired some experience of value to me on this subject, I 

 will g.ive it to benefit other readers. 



There seems to be a difference of opinion among bee- 

 keepers in using the fumes of sulphur to kill the larv;L- of 

 the bee-moth, while others object to its use on account of 

 coloring the comb and thus reducing its value when placed 

 •on the market. 



In 1870 we had four apiaries that averaged 55 colonies 

 each, and at that time we used a four-pound box containing 

 two combs, and after taking the boxes of honey from the 

 hives and keeping it from the larvM of the bee-moth until 

 sold was to me a disappointment, one way or the other. If 

 we sulphured it, it looked yellow, green and white — rain- 

 bow like — didn't please the eye, and brought less money. If 

 we did not use sulphur the larvK of the bee-moth made 

 many boxes unfit to place on the market. 



But in sulphuring we noticed some of the combs yellow 

 or green, while other combs remained white and free from 

 color. This set us to thinking that there was a right way 

 and a wrong way Of doing things. We worked hard to find 

 the right way, for we believe it pays well to learn which 

 way that is. 



After experimenting a great deal, and learning nothing 

 of value, one morning, very early in the wee hours, I awoke 

 with my head full of " bee-biz." And it appeared to me the 

 damp or wet combs only were colored by the fumes in sul- 

 phuring. So that very morning we took 20 boxes of honey 

 and placed them on the table near an open window so the 

 wind would blow all about them, and left them there until 

 2 p.m. Then they were taken to the house used for sul- 

 phuring and placed on the racks. Then 20 boxes of honey 

 was selected that was damp, or "sweating," as it is called, 

 and placed in the house on racks opposite the other 20 first 

 taken there. 



The house used for sulphuring was 6 feet square and 7 

 feet high. A hole was dug outside, extending under the 

 house, and bricked up, and this is where 24 ounces of brim- 

 stone was burned for one hour. Then the door was opened, 

 with the results obtained. 



Since that experiment we have not had any colored 

 comb or section honey damaged by the larvae of the bee- 

 moth. It was a success. 



Please gently inform Dr. Miller that it will kill them 

 every time. (Page 695 — 1901). Say, Doctor, what about 

 those fellows an inch long ? My boys say if we would let 

 them grow to be that size our combs would all have a " veil " 

 over them. Wayne Co., N. Y. 



Starting and Managing Out-Apiaries. 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



" Will you please tell me whether you think It will pay me to 

 start an out-apiary about three miles from my home yard! Caa I 

 profitably keep 50 colonies in each place { I like the bee-busines;? and 

 have succeeded in winteriug my bees for ten winters with a loss of 

 only 3 or 4 colonies, and have now 48 colonies in the cellar. Dou't 

 you think it will be a good honey-year? I produce only extracted 

 "honey. — T. L., Fayette Co., Iowa. 



I believe it will always pay a man to keep bees in a 

 fairly good country, if he likes the business and enjoys it. 

 Kven if he hasn't much liking for it, if he has determina- 

 tion and is not afraid of the stings, and is careful and in- 

 dustrious, he can make bee-keeping pay. 



When I was a boy I had no liking for bee-culture. The 

 stings proved exceedingly painful, and although my father 

 was always at his bees and spent a goodly portion of his 

 time watching them and overhauling them, I often assorted 

 that I would never be a bee-keeper. But when I becaiiK" 18 

 years old, my father happened to take sick with hay-fever 

 during the very best honey-ilow that I have ever seen. He 

 asked me to go to the bees. So I fixed myself up and sum- 



moned my courage and went to work. What I saw in the 

 apiary during the few hours of that day's work made a bee- 

 keeper of me. The hives were literally running over with 

 honey. Some colonies that had no supers had managed to 

 find their way into the cap and had built snow-white combs 

 running the entire length of that cap and those combs were 

 shining with honey. Hives that had been provided with 

 supers, probably because their colonies were stronger, had 

 those supers full ; one or two colonies had begun work under 

 the bottom-board, and two or three swarms, harvested a 

 week or so previously, had their hive-bodies about full and 

 were ready for supers. I went to work with a will, tried to 

 follow instructions as to the proper handling, and found it 

 was pleasant work, after all. 



I must remind you, however, that bees are very much 

 more peacable when harvesting large quantities of honey 

 than at other times, so I did not become too much discour- 

 aged at first with stings, and after awhile I had become so 

 inoculated that the stings were no longer dreaded. 



From that day on there were two bee-keepers in our 

 home, instead of one. But I did not have the patience of 

 investigation that my father had. I was willing, however, 

 to work under his instructions. We had a big crop that 

 year, but the following one was bad. Still we kept on, and 

 within three or four years we had enough bees to make it 

 necessary to start an out-apiary. 



Our aim has always been to keep about 80 colonies in 

 one spot. Whenever the number exceeded this quantity, we 

 began colonizing in a new apiary. We usually started with 

 from 20 to 35 colonies in the new place, increasing by artifi- 

 cial or natural swarming as occasion offered. We used a 

 few small hives at first, but gradually changed them into 

 larger ones. Little by little we increased until we became 

 possessors of six apiaries, numbering between 400 and 500 

 colonies. But we have long since decreased from that 

 number. Other things demanded our attention, and we 

 were compelled to trust the handling of the bees to other 

 hands. 



There is an undoubted profit in handling bees on a 

 large scale. We have had several crops that have netted us, 

 all labor paid, from $2,500 to $2,800 in honey and wax. The 

 outlay is small, but it takes a determination to attend to the 

 work, at the proper time and in the proper way. 



Some men never succeed with bees because they lack 

 the knowledge of some of the most simple require- 

 ments, or because they do not employ good judgment. 

 For instance, I have seen a bee-keeper, whom I had 

 thought a practical man, take three combs out of a hive of 

 bees and return them wrong end foremost and improperly 

 placed. That is, in replacing the combs in the hive he put 

 the honey at the front, when it should be at the rear — the 

 place where the bees usually put it so as to defend it against 

 intruders ; and he placed a comb of brood on the outside of 

 the cluster, separating it from the others with a comb of 

 honey. It was at a season when the brood should be kept 

 together so as to be cared for easily, the weather being 

 cool. Either this man had no judgment, or he was unaware 

 of the necessary precautions in handling bees. This is 

 seemingly a trifling matter, but it constitutes the difference 

 between the successful apiarist and the unsuccessful one. 

 If you have kept bees for ten years and have succeeded well, 

 I will vouch these small matters have caught your eye, that 

 YOU know how and when to open your hives, and that when 

 you leave an apiary for a week or more, you can feel reason- 

 ably sure that nothing will suffer in your absence unless 

 some accident happens. That is one of the requirements in 

 the establishment of an out-apiary. We cannot be there 

 continually, and at each visit the hives must be left in such 

 shape that we may be confident that there will be no rob- 

 bing of a weak colony, no starving of a destitute one, nor 

 any lack of room in the supers during a heavy flow. 



Of course the bees must be located near some house, so 

 that possible swarms may be harvested. But I see that in 

 one of the best honey-producing sections that I have ever 

 visited (in Colorado), they do not think it necessary to put 

 their bees near a house. The out-apiaries there are most 

 usually placed in the middle of an orchard, or in some 

 corner of a field, or under some cottonwoods, without any 

 attention, except from the owner, who comes to them from 

 time to time. 



The production of extracted honey in an out-apiary is a 

 very good method, and I will speak on this matter in some 

 future article. 



1903 PROSPECTS AS A HONEY-YEAR. 



Do I think this will be a good honey-year? Yes, I do, 

 as much as I may be able to judge. The white clover has 



