43d YEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, MAY 21, 1903. 



No. 21. 



( 



Editorial Comments 





Beeswax in Cuba. — A Cuban correspondent writes that '.i') 

 cents a pound for wax, as given on page 243, is rather high. He has 

 been able to get only 31 cents for it, but that is in Spanish gold, and 

 is equivalent to 2S).i cents American money. 



A New Bee-nisease, fairly wide spread, is reported in the 

 Australasian Bee-Keeper. It has the appearance of foul brood except 

 smell and a deficiency of ropiness. Mr. Gale, of the Agricultural Col- 

 lege, reports that they have bred the new microbe by thousands, and 

 are satisfied it is not foul brood. 



Introducing Without Making Queenless is advised by 

 the Modern Farmer and Busy Bee. That is, instead of first making 

 the colony queenless, put the new queen caged in the hive, and then 

 remove the old queen 4S hours later, when the cage is to be so ar- 

 ranged that the bees can liberate the new queen by eating out the 

 candy. Well worth trying. 



Kniptying Barrels of Ciranulated Honey. — Some bee- 

 keepers make very hard work of emptying barrels of granulated 

 honey. We used to suffer the same way before we tried a different 

 method. To take the head out of the barrel and dig out the solid honey 

 is no easy job. After emptying one barrel the digger is apt to wish 

 there were no such thing as a barrel of honey. 



Our present method is to lay on the floor a sheet of heavy wrap- 

 ping-paper about 3 or 4 feet square. Then put the barrel on one end 

 in the center of the paper. The next thing is to remove the hoops- 

 then the upper head of the barrel, after which all the staves can be 

 taken away. The honey will then stand before the operator in an 

 almost perfect cylinder in form. With a spade or shovel he can 

 shovel it into a melting-tank, or into any other receptacle desired. A 

 200-pound barrel can thus be emptied in about 15 minutes, if quick 

 movements are made. 



Just try the above method and see if you ever want to dig honey 

 out of a barrel again. As second-hand barrels are practically worth- 

 less, it does not pay to try to save them by spending much more time 

 than the barrel is worth in digging out the honey. 



The paper used on the floor can be cleaned oft and used again, if 

 desired. We have also used, instead of the paper, a large sheet of 

 galvanized iron. Zinc would also be a good thing for the purpose. 

 The edges of either zinc or galvanized iron could be turned up a little, 

 so that if the honey were somewhat soft it would be held as in a pan. 



Colonies with A'irgin Queens in Early Summer need 

 special treeatment in some oases, (ienerally when an old queen is 

 superseded by the bees she continues to lay until her successor is 

 ready to take up that duty. In that case there is no need of inter- 

 ference on the part of the bee-keeper. But it sometimes'happens that 

 by some means a virgin queen is found in a hive with no brood pres- 

 ent unless it be sealed brood, perhaps well advanced. In general, it 

 is bad policy to take from a strong colony early in the season to give 

 to a weak one. Here is an exception. This colony with the young 

 queen can just as well as not be taking care of some brood from else- 

 where until its own queen is laying. Take from a strong colony one 

 or two frames of brood— the youngest you can And — and give to the 



brocdless colony. In place of the lirood taken away, put an empty 

 comb, or combs, in the middle of the hive. A week later these will 

 be filled with young brood and eggs, and may be given to any colony 

 with a virgin queen. 



Thus, young brood and eggs may lie drawn each week so long as 

 there is any colony with only a virgin ciueen, and in this way it will 

 be seen that for any frame thus handled there will be three times as 

 many bees as If the frame had been left untouched for its three weeks 

 in its original place. If desired, a frame of sealed brood from the 

 colony with the virgin may be exchanged for the frame of young 

 brood, and in this way the strong colony will be stronger instead of 

 weaker for the performance. In any case, the sum total of bees will 

 be increased. 



Red Bees.— Gleanings in Bee-Culture reports that Mr. Fowls 

 found some red bees, and was nonplused to find them the next day of 

 their original yellow color. A few days later they were again red, and 

 it transpired that they were made red by being fed syrup from red 

 candy that Mr. Fowls had bought at a bargain. And now Editor 

 Root is scheming to have a show of bees of different colors, made so 

 by feeding differently colored syrups ! 



Would a " red nose " on a bee indicate anything stronger than 

 red candy syrup i 



Shaken Swarms in the Arid Portions. — What is best for 

 one region may not be best for another. In some places the chieS 

 value of shaken swarms lies in the fact of their keeping apiaries free, 

 from the evil effects of foul brood, even though it may be raging alt 

 about. Of course, that does not in the least conflict with its value as. 

 a preventive of swarming, nor with its influence with respect to the. 

 whiteness of the cappings of comb honey. For those who are located/ 

 in Colorado, or similar arid regions, the following specific directions, 

 given by the Rocky Mountain Bee .Journal, will be of value; 



The honey-flora in the arid States is such as to afford a long, mod- 

 erate and continuous flow, and this furnishes ideal conditions for the 

 utilization of shook swarming in connection with the production of 

 comb honey. 



Passing the question of spring management, we will presuppose 

 that the hives are crowded with bees aud brood in all stages, and that 

 the honey-flow has well started. Both interior and exterior conditions, 

 are favorable to swarming. In fact, having noted these conditions^ 

 now is the time to begin active operations. Examine each colony 

 carefully for queen-cells containing eggs or larv;e. Having found one- 

 that has thus given notice of its intention to swarm, proceed as tol-- 

 lows: 



1. Open the hive quietly and with as little smoke as possible. 

 Find the comb containing the queen and set it at one side in a shady 

 place and out of the wind. 



2. Close the hive, and by drumming and smoking cause the bees 

 to gorge themselves with honey. 



3. Move the hive to the rear and place a new hive, containing only 

 starters in the frames, on the old stand. The super, containing sec- 

 tions filled with full sheets of foundation, should also be in place, 

 with a queen-excluder between it and the brood-chamber. The ex- 

 cluder should be removed in two or three days. 



4. Shake three-fourths to seven-eighths of the bees, including the 

 frame containing the queen, in front of the new hive, and run them 

 in as you would a natural swarm. The queen should be caught and 

 placed in the entrance after the bees have begun to run in. The right 

 proportion of bees to leave with the brood depends upon the weather 

 and must be determined by the judgment of the apiarist. 



5. If increase is desired, remove the old hive containing the brood 

 to a new stand several feet away, and ine^ert a ripe cell, or give a lay- 

 ing queen. If no increase is desired, place the old hive by the new 

 one, but at right angles to it. The ne.xt time the apiary is visited 

 shake again, and move the old hive to the other side of the new one, 

 but still at right angles. Repeat this process for three weeks, when all 

 the brood will have hatched. The combs may then be disposed of to 

 the best advantage of the apiarist, and any honey remaining in them 

 may be extracted. 



Whether or not it is an advantage to put a comb of unsealed 



