62 



February, 1914. 



American ~Bee Journal 



stirring lioney hastens granulation. If honey 

 is heated as much as it will stand without 

 injuring its aroma or flavor, say somewliere 

 below i6o degrees, and sealed up while hot. 

 it will continue liciuid. 



Your inquiry, however, is more particu- 

 larly about comb honey. While honey in 

 the comb is slower about granulation than 

 extracted honey, we are more helpless about 

 preventing granulation or reducing it to a 

 liquid state after it is once granulated. I'o 

 be sure, some have reported melting comb 

 honey— or bringing it again to a liquid state- 

 without injuring the comb, yet it must be a 

 rather ticklish job. I ///////(■ that honey left a 

 considerable time on the hive is less in- 

 clined to granulate than that which is re- 

 moved just as soon as it is sealed, but here 

 you meet the troulile that leaving it on the 

 hive too long darkens the comb. Perhaps 

 the best you can do is to leave your sections 

 on as long as you can without having the 

 combs darkened, and then keep them in as 

 warm a place as you can until sold. 



Kind of Super to Use ? 



I expect to engage in the production of 

 comb honey more than ever before, and de- 

 sire advice and directions as to the width 

 of sections you use with separators, and the 

 width you would use without separators. 



In your opinion is it absolutely [lecessary 

 to use separators in order to get the largest 

 possible number of marketable sections ? I 

 believe you use the T supers: if not, what 

 kind of super do you recommend ? 



Florida. 



Answer.— I use the T super, and know of 

 nothing better. I use 4/ix4''4Xi'8 sections, as 

 do the majority, with plain wood separators 



If you want to dispense with separators, you 

 will get combs of the same thickness by 

 having the sections iVs inches instead of ili. 

 But I don't believe you can get along without 

 separators. A few beekeepers do get along 

 without them, but most of them find it true 

 economy to use them. I have tried doing 

 ivithout them, and it would take a good deal 

 of money to hire me to continue it. 



Uniting Two Colonies 



1. Let me designate two colonies very 

 strong and just ready to swarm, as Nos. i 

 and 2. If No. i should swarm before No. 2. 

 would it be all right to move No. 2 to a new 

 location and set the swarm on the old stand 

 of No. 2? Would they accept the field bees 

 of No. 2 ? 



2. If. in the spring, one should have a num- 

 ber of weak colonies, could they be united 

 with stronger ones and not have any fighting? 



Maine. 



Answers —I. It should work all right 

 without any fighting. 



2. If you put two colonies together without 

 any precaution, each one having its own 

 queen, there is danger of fighting. A great 

 many times I have safely united by taking i. 

 2 or 3 frames with adhering bees from one 

 colony and simply placing beside the brood- 

 nest in another hive, A safe way is to place 

 one hive over the other with a common 

 sheet of newspaper between. The bees will 

 gnaw a hole in the paper and gradually 

 unite peaceably. 



The DadanI Hive 



I am not acquainted with the Dadant hive, 

 and do not have the book. (I have the origi- 

 nal " Langstroth." third edition, printed in 



1873. the year I bought it.) From tliecuton 

 page 41Q. December issue of the American 

 Bee Journal, it appears that the Dadant 

 hive has a double back. What is the object 

 of the extra board, marked /•' ' It seems to 

 me that this would only make the hive 

 heavier and more expensive. At the front, 

 the thin strip. //, provides a bee-space, /?, P. 

 between the super and the cap. Would not 

 a similar strip at the rear accomplish the 

 same result? I can see no reason for the 

 wide space. P. A', at the rear of the super. I 

 presume that the wide space. T. over the 

 super is to provide room for a quilt, a mat. 

 or a thin board, laid on top of the extracting 

 frames. 



I am only asking for information, having 

 no intention of making any such hive. 



California. 



Answer.— The Dadant hive is a cold coun- 

 try hive. The double back and the two 

 dummies, one on each side, make it a 

 double-walled hive on all sides, but the 

 front, which we always aim to face south. 

 The bees are. therefore, better sheltered on 

 the cold sides. We find this much better 

 for wintering than the single wall. As to 

 the cost, if we stop to figure that a hive 

 which is well made and well painted will 

 last 30 years, we will not hesitate much to 

 spend what we think is necessary to make 

 it good. 



The double back also has another advan- 

 tage. You will notice that the outer board 

 drops lower than the bottom-board. This 

 effectually protects the bottom against any 

 rain or moisture that might slip in from the 

 rear. 



In a warm country like California, where 

 wintering is not difficult, a rear strip 

 like the one in front will give a surface 

 suHicient to adjust the cloth and straw mat. 



No. 1 

 Mr. Jones has found that hybrids do better 



— HvBRii) Ai'iARY OF G. F. Jones, at Galax, Va. 



' in his locality" than pure Italians. They are less inclined to rob, need less feeding, 

 and make more honey. 



