1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



87 



must be taken not to overheat it. Just as soon as you think 

 it safe to do so— which will be about the time the lire begins 

 to die down — close the door of the oven and leave the wax till 

 the next morning, when you go to make the Are. Of course, 

 you must take out the wax before you make the fire, and to 

 help you remember be sure to put the stove-handle at night in 

 the oven. Then you'll open the oven door to get out the stove- 

 handle in the morning, and can't forget to take out the wax. 



3. Very new comb will make white wax, or you can 

 bleach yellow wax by means of light, th% same as you bleach 

 anything that is bleachable. 



•4. I don't know. I don't think there is any set time. 

 Generally it will be sealed about as soon as evaporated enough 

 to be ready to seal, but sometimes quite thin honey is found 

 sealed. 



5. If you mean just for the one extracting, it will hardly 

 pay to buy an extractor at all, but you probably mean to ex- 

 tract some each fall, and in that case a 2-frame extractor is 

 all you need. I'm not familiar with all the styles of extrac- 

 tors, but almost any of them are probably good. 



6. Both. It can be taken right from the extractor, but a 

 cloth can be attached to the extractor so it is strained as it 

 leaves the extractor. 



7. Your plan is excellent. I never found any trouble, 

 however, in first putting on the empty one and then setting 

 the full one on it. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. J. P. n. BRO\\r\, AUGUSTA., GA, 



[Please send all questions relating to bee-keeping In the South direct 

 to Dr. Brown, and he will answer in this department. — Eds.1 



Increasing the Depth of §implicity Hives to Cor- 

 respond Witii a Oreater Depth of Frame. 



I have some bees in the 8-frame dovetail hive, and I wish 

 to make the frames two or three inches deeper. How can I 

 do it 1 T. G. B. 



Answer. — My friend, take my advice and let the frames 

 alone — don't change the depth. If you must change, nail on 

 strips to the top edge of the hive, of the necessary width ; but 

 rather then have a botched job, you had better get new hives 

 to suit the depth of your frame. 



Oetting Bees to AVork in Sections — Donbling Up 

 — Hiving Swarms and Feeding. 



Dr. Brown : — I have received several letters of inquiry 

 from beginners, asking how to produce comb honey in the 

 Simplicity hives. I use this hive, but have not been success- 

 ful, and have been told the hive was the cause. My bees do 

 not go into or work much, however, in the sections. Will it 

 be asking too much for you to give your plan of management? 

 How do you hive the swarms, with all the frames in below? 

 When do you put on the sections above, and when do you take 

 them off ? Do you manipulate the frames during the honey- 

 flow ? Do you practice "doubling," and when? Do you 

 "contract," and how ? Do you buy queens? and have you 

 been successful in introducing them ? When do you feed, and 

 how ? Is there any use in feeding when bees seem to be 

 bringing in stores of some kind ? W. F. 



Answers. — I do not think the style of hive you mention 

 is the cause of your bees not working in the sections. You 

 must look for other causes — most likely, either the colonies 

 were not strong enough In worker-force during the honey-flow, 

 or the flow was too limited in amount for any surplus. Now 

 and then we meet colonies apparently in good condition, and 

 in strength compare with others that are working in supers, 

 that refuse to go into the surplus department. In such cases 

 I endeavor to entice above by Inserting sections filled with 

 comb and partly-filled with honey, if I have such. If they 



still refuse, I may contract the brood-chamber by removing a 

 a frame or two, so as to force them up. But this plan en- 

 courages swarming, which is not desirable when working for 

 comb honey. 



If the hive is a 10-frame one, I place the swarm in with 

 all the frames in position. When full sheets of foundation 

 are used I alternate them with empty frames, or preferably 

 with frames with comb already worked out. But never use a 

 frame without a triangular comb guide, or a starter of foun- 

 dation. The super should not be put on till the bees got well 

 established in their work below, which may take three or four 

 days. 



If you have sections partly-filled with honey to place on 

 the hive, then it may be best to hive the colony with only 

 starters of foundation In the brood-frames. 



There Is no need of disturbing the frames in the brood- 

 chamber during the honey-flow. 



It is frequently necessary to double up and contract small 

 colonies in the fall. 



While I rear queens, I frequently buy, and have no trouble 

 to successfully introduce them. 



In early spring bees frequently bring in loads of pollen, 

 but can gather very little honey, breeding goes on rapidly, 

 and the supply of honey may soon be exhausted. Such colo- 

 nies must be watched, and, if necessary, fed until they can 

 gather enough honey from natural sources. 



My advice to W. P. is to purchase a standard work on 

 bees, and not only read It, but study it, and apply its teach- 

 ings practically to the hive. 



T Supers and Pattern Slats. 



On page 807 (1895) Peter Schartz gives an article on T 

 supers and pattern slats, setting forth his reasons for using 

 the former and discarding the latter. From his statements it 

 appears to me that the reason, in a nut-shell, is simply this : 

 He knew how to use the one, and did not know how to use the 

 other. This is very often the case — we condemn a thing be- 

 cause we do not know how to use it. 



I use both the T super and the pattern slats, and I think 

 I like the slatted case the best. May be if I knew better how 

 to use them I would like them better. 



In order that the readers may know why I think I like 

 the slats best, it will be necessary to tell how they are made : 



My hives are 14 inches wide, inside measure, top-bars 19 

 inches long, with no bee-space above. The T tins I use are 

 13 Inches long, so I made my cases 17xl3?:£ Inches, inside 

 measure. I nail a strip of wood o/lOx'l inch across the 

 ends of the case for the sections to rest upon, and pieces of 

 the same material one inch long at the sides for the T tins to 

 rest on. When 28 sections, with separators, are in this case, 

 it Is full, with no room for a " follower." They are very nice 

 to handle, but they are too short to cover the frames, and the 

 sections are hard to get out. I use a strip of waxed cloth to 

 cover the ends of the frames at the rear end of the hive. 



I make the slatted cases the same length and width as the 

 hives, and cut a groove in the ends of the case to receive the 

 slats, leaving a bee-space below. The slats are put in before 

 the last side-piece is put on, so that they cannot come out, but 

 can be moved so as to properly adjust them when the sections 

 are In. The sections are keyed up with followers at one end 

 and one side. 



If it be desired to remove all the sections at once, take 

 out the wedge, cover them with a board made to fit the top of 

 the case, place your fingers on the ends of the board, your 

 thumbs underneath the case, and turn it top side down. 



One objection I find to the slats is, they remove the sec- 

 tions one step further from the brood. C. C. Parsons. 



Bessemer, Ala. 



Back ^Numbers. — We have on hand a few back 

 numbers of the Bee Journal for 1895, which we will mail to 

 any one wishing them at 15 copies for 20 cents. They will all 

 be different dates, but we have no complete sets for the year. 

 Just send us 20 cents in stamps or silver, and we'll send you 

 15 copies. No doubt there are many new subscribers who 

 will be glad to take advantage of this offer. All new sub- 

 scriptions now begin with Jan. 1, 1896. 



Xtae McEvoy Foul Brood Treatment is 



given in Dr. Howard's pamphlet on " Foul Brood ; Its Natural 

 History and Rational Treatment." It is the latest publication 

 on the subject, and should be in the hands of every bee-keeper. 

 Price, 25 cents ; or clubbed with the Bee Journal for one year 

 —both for $1.10. 



