OCTOBER 15, 1913 



fitted into sections 2^x2 enougli for each one in 

 attendance. I have always found that a large per- 

 centage of the sections so fixed will fail to be any- 

 where near perfect. The larger the section the great- 

 er the success. 



Redford, Mich., Oct. 8. M. H. Hunt. 



As stated in our issue for Oct. 1, the plan 

 of cutting up combs into small squai'ss out 

 of extracting-f rames is feasible ; but such 

 combs should be allowed to drain, then 

 wrapped in paraftine paper, and put into 

 cartons. A. 1. Root is very positive that it 

 is not practicable to have these cut combs, 

 after they have been capped over, fitted 

 into and fastened into sections by the bees 

 as an after-operation. While they may 

 make a few individual specimens that will 

 look very well, in a large way he says the 

 plan is not a success. 



OUR COVER DESIGN ; CELL-BUILDING COLONIES. 



Our front cover design for Sept. 15th 

 issue shows a view of our queen-mating 

 bab}' nuclei among the basswoods where we 

 raised and mated over 3000 queens during 

 the past season. On the cover of this issue 

 we show the cell-building colonies for these 

 same babies a little further along in the same 

 grove. Xot all the hives are cell-builders, 

 but all the two-stoiy are devoted (or were 

 at the time the picture was taken) to that 

 purpose, and all of them were operated for 

 honey. Last year was an exceptional one 

 for nectar secretion. It was not necessary, 

 therefore, to feed these cell-builders — in 

 fact, our Mr. Pritcnard was greatly embar- 

 rassed by such a flood of honey coming in 

 that liis queens were honey-bound, and his 

 cell-builders swarmed and swarmed and 

 swarmed, keeping him busy a great deal of 

 the time in shinning up trees, for these 

 powerful colonies devoted to building cells 

 would of course be in fine condition to 

 swarm. The usual procedure of cutting out 

 cells would not do, for that would defeat 

 the very purpose of these colonies, so Mr. 

 Pritchard had to gi'in and bear it. Once or 

 twice he was compelled to witness one or 

 two of his crack colonies sail over the tops 

 of the basswoods and fly on and on and on, 

 crosslots, for parts unknown. 



This is a very good location among the 

 basswoods; and, as will be seen, it is well 

 slieltered in all directions from the prevail- 

 ing winds. The only exposure is toward the 

 south, and we seldom fear a south wind, 

 even in mid-winter. Next to this basswood 

 grove on the north is a dense growth of 

 woods. On the west is an extension of the 

 grove for about one thousand feet further 

 on. During the windiest of days there will 

 b° no piercing blast to interfere with win- 

 tering or springing. 



On the other side of the building is a 



703 



driven well which is out of view. It sup- 

 plies us with plenty of clean water for 

 washing, and for making ujj syrup when- 

 ever there is no honey coming in ; for it 

 should be understood that cell-builders 

 should be kept in a highly prosperous con- 

 dition by slow feeding if there is no honey 

 coming in from the fields. We use a Board- 

 man entrance feeder with glass Mason jars, 

 some of which will be seen in the fore- 

 ground. The syrup is received through 

 three or four holes in the cap, and the sup- 

 ply is so restricted that a filled can of syruj) 

 will last even a cell-builder 48 or more 

 hours. As long as there is a constant sup- 

 ply of food coming in, the work on the cells 

 will continue uninterruptedl}^ But if one 

 of these feeders, by chance or otherwise, 

 should be allowed to remain empty for 

 a few hours during a dearth of honey, there 

 will be danger that every cell will be de- 

 stroyed. 



For further particulars regarding this 

 basswood yard and its early history, see 

 page 631, Sept. 15th issue. 



natural vs. artificial RIPENING OF HONEY. 



While we doubt whether it wiU pay to 

 utilize any more space in Gleanings for a 

 discussion of artificial rijDening of honey, 

 since the great bulk of the evidence is 

 against the practice, we should like to men- 

 tion, nevertheless, that in the May loth issue 

 of the Australian Beekeeper a discussion 

 on the subject appears, which is really a 

 symposium. As usual there is a difference 

 in opinion, although there is not such a 

 feeling against the practice in Australia, 

 apparently, as in this country for instance. 

 We desire to point out in passing that at 

 least one of the writers is laboring under a 

 misaiDprehension when he believes that the 

 bees do nothing to the nectar of the flowers 

 except to evaporate the excess of moisture 

 —in other words, that the ripening process 

 is merely driving off the excess of Avater. 

 All chemists know that there is a decided 

 chemical difference between the sugar found 

 in the nectar of the flowers and that in 

 ripened honey. By the time the evapora- 

 tion is accomplished by the bees, the " in- 

 version," as it is technically called, has been 

 brought about. 



While not recommending the practice we 

 believe that there are localities where it is 

 safe for a judicious beekeeper to extract 

 from combs not j'et capped over. We believe, 

 also, that in many other localities there are 

 certain combinations of conditions of weath- 

 er, atmosphere, etc., where the honey is 

 entirely ripe before it is capped over. As 

 an illustration, because of the necessity of 

 providing room for colonies in one of our 



