784 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



ians, it would of course be understood 

 that Adel queens produced bees having 

 the yellow bands and other marks dis- 

 tinctive of that race, the queens them- 

 selves being, of course, finely developed 

 specimens. 



Brood-Rearing in the Fall. 



Question No. 13. — "How late in the 

 fall is it desirable that brood-rearing 

 should continue?" 



F. H. Richardson — That depends alto- 

 gether on the climatic conditions, and 

 also the condition of the colony. That 

 can't be answered for any two sections 

 alike. ■ 



Extracting and Feeding Back. 



Question No. 14. — "Will it pay to ex- 

 tract, and then, when the flow has 

 ceased, contract the brood-chamber and 

 feed back, especially to fill partly-filled 

 sections ?" 



A. I. Root — Under certain circum- 

 stances. 



Mr. Richardson — That is a very much 

 disputed question. I don't think a dis- 

 cussion of that will be of any benefit to 

 us here, and the best thing for the party 

 who asked that question is to experi- 

 ment for himself. It all depends upon a 

 man's bees. 



A. I. Root — In preparing colonies for 

 winter we ought to get them on a small 

 number of combs. By extracting and 

 contracting the combs this can be 

 brought about. In regard to these un- 

 filled sections, if you have some sections 

 that are nearly completed, it might pay 

 to feed enough honey to get these com- 

 pleted, but when it comes to filling a 

 great number of sections wholly, there 

 will be so much honey wasted in getting 

 them capped over that it will not pay. 

 If you have to melt it before you feed it 

 back, it will granulate in the combs. 



Mr. Iloltermann — It will not pay. 



Dr. Miller — When you feed back, this 

 granulation is likely to take place. That 

 is one great objection to the business. I 

 have practiced it quite a little, and I 

 have never made it pay. 



C. F. Lane — I have had considerable 

 experience with this feeding back. I 

 have practiced it for four or five years. 

 I don't extract; I feed it back from the 

 natural comb, but it is tedious. If I 

 have in the fall some bees — perhaps a 

 dozen colonies which are poor, and in 

 which the queens may not be doing well, 

 I combine them so as to get them into two 

 hives, and these I place under a tent and 

 tier up the unfinished sections about ten 

 crates high on each. I take the combs 

 of honey and uncap them and tier them 



up around these bees, and in that way 

 the bees will take it all out, and there is 

 no robbing or anything of that kind. As 

 near as I can tell, the loss is about one- 

 third. I have weighed many, but the 

 nearest I can tell is about one-third. 

 Another way is, I have a large tent 

 about 20x40 feet, and I putin about 15 

 colonies, and after keeping them in there 

 for awhile, they will become accustomed 

 to the looks of the place, and will work 

 in there. On the other side of the tent 

 I put the combs of honey, and the bees 

 take the honey out and fill the unfinished 

 sections. 



Production of Comb Honey. 



Question No. 15. — "Are there any 

 new suggestions in the production of 

 comb honey?" 



Mr. Holtermann — I put that question 

 in the box, and it was the first one put 

 in. I think there is a little point which 

 I have not known before, and that is the 

 importance of a bee-space above the sec- 

 tions. We are all after having our sec- 

 tions filled as much as possible. Not 

 only does it add to the appearance of the 

 honey, but the strength of it in shipping. 

 I have found that by putting a quilt or 

 cloth over the sections, there is no space 

 over the sections for the bees to pass, 

 and therefore they are liable to put 

 propolis on the tops of the sections, 

 while if there is a J^C-inch space left over 

 the sections, you will get a very much 

 nicer-looking section. 



Supply-Dealers at Conventions, 



Question No. 16. — "Is it desirable to 

 have persons in attendance at our con- 

 ventions who are interested in the sale of 

 supplies, but are not themselves bee- 

 keepers?" 



Mr. Benton — Yes. 



J. T. Calvert— I will say this, that I 

 have had charge of the apiary of A. I. 

 Root for three successive years, and I 

 am still interested in bees. 



Dr. Miller — This shows you what a 

 bad conscience will do. There has been 

 too much of the feeling that there is a 

 certain amount of antagonism between 

 the supply-dealers and the honey-dealers, 

 between commission-men and honey- 

 producers. Just take the supply-deal- 

 ers, if you please. Do we want the sup- 

 ply-dealers to exist? Will you and I be 

 better off if they are all hanged. Take 

 the matter of sections. I would not want 

 to sit down and make them myself with 

 a knife for $5 per thousand, and that is 

 what, the best will cost. And the very 

 fact that we can get them so cheap is on 

 account of these men here spending time 



