1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



135 



much surplus-room the first time. The shallow frames are 

 more convenient to uncap. I think it is said the queen is less 

 likely to go up and lay in shallow frames. But it is expensive 

 and inconvenient to keep a set of frames especially for ex- 

 tracting. If you use the same kind of frames as you use in 

 the brood-chamber, you can change from one to the other, so 

 a smaller number of frames will be necessary, and the frames 

 can more easily be all kept in use all the time, and that's bet- 

 ter for the combs. But another thing is, that some think that 

 the honey is affected by the old combs in which brood has been 

 reared, and if that be true, then the combs used for extracting 

 should never have brood in them. On the whole, the matter 

 stands in this way : It's better to have shallow frames for 

 extracting, but if you don't want to stand the expense you can 

 get along by using frames the same as in the brood-chamber. 



2. It isn't so much a matter of the number of frames as 

 It is of the amount of room in which they are placed. If a 

 thousand combs require a given amount of sulphur, it will 

 take just as much sulphur for a single comb if that single 

 comb is put in the same room. If there are big worms to be 

 killed in your combs, you can hardly use enough sulphur, and 

 if they have just been hatched from the egg it will need very 

 little to kill them. At a rough guess, perhaps a pound of 

 sulphur may be used for a room 10 feet square. 



In smoking section honey, there is danger of making the 

 nice, white comb green if an overdose of sulphur is used, but 

 you would probably do no harm by any amount for brood- 

 combs. 



3. For 15 or 20 colonies you'll want a room not much 

 smaller than you would need for five times as many. Of 

 course, more room is needed to store the increased amount of 



. honey. Moreover, there's no certainty that you will always 

 be of your present mind as to keeping so few colonies, and it 

 is more comfortable to have plenty of room, and a large room 

 costs less in proportion than a small one. You could get 

 along with a room 7x7, but I wouldn't want it less than lOx- 

 10, and larger would be still better. Figure to have plenty of 

 light, and that will at the same time give you plenty of chance 

 for ventilation. Have it convenient to the apiary, and the lay 

 of the land will have something to say about that. Be sure 

 to keep in mind that you may want to drive a wagon close up 

 to load and unload. So general is the question that it is not 

 likely all points would be covered, no matter how long the 

 answer, and any special questions you may think of will be 

 cheerfully answered so far as ability goes. 



Sa^vdust Packiiis iu the Spring. 



Is it advisable to place sawdust on the top of the brood- 

 frames for the protecting of brood during the spring? Last 

 spring I took the frames out of the half stories, and placed 

 them on the hives with the oil-cloth over the brood-frames, and 

 filled the half-stories about half full of dry sawdust. If this 

 is advisable, how long should they remain on ? 



Peasleeville, N. Y. W. H. E. 



Answkr. — I should think it might be of some benefit, al- 

 though I wouldn't like to be very positive about it. Why not 

 try some hives with, and some without such covering, and 

 compare results? I'd take off the sawdust about the time to 

 put on sections, or a little before, according to convenience. 



Wants to Produce Only Bcc§tvax. 



What do you consider the best plan to secure the most 

 wax ? Bees do well here. Besides a fair yield during the 

 regular seasons, they usually gather some honey and keep up 

 brood-rearing the entire winter, but there is very little sale 

 for honey at any price, while wax sells readily at 50 cents per 

 pound. I have no extractor. What do you thinl< of feeding 

 back honey in comb? and how should it be done? 



About how many pounds of honey should make a pound 

 of wax, wlien fed to the bees ? About how many pounds of 

 wax-should a strong colony make per annum if worked for wax 

 alone. 



I suppose in working for wax I should increase as fast as 

 practicable. If so, what is the best plan to pursue? 



Monte Morelas, Mexico. W. H. C. 



Answer. — I don't know enough to attempt any answer to 

 some of your questions, and practically know very little about 

 working for wax alone. Whether it can be made profitable 

 or not can only be decided by trial. In the States it is hardly 

 worth the trial, but in Australia it has been thought of. With 

 poor sale for honey, and wax at 50 cents, it's certainly worth 

 the trial. 



I think I should try somewhat after this fashion : Have 

 a hive of such size that the queen would have a fair chance to 

 lay and still leave a little room, but very little. As soon as 

 the hive is filled iu spring, or a little sooner, add a second 

 story below with starters. I think you'll find the bees build 

 down comb quite rapidly. Cut away the combs as fast as 

 built down, every two or three days if you can stand the work. 

 These combs will have very little honey in them, and will give 

 wax of the finest quality. There may be danger that the 

 combs in the upper story will become filled with honey to such 

 an extent that brood enough will not be reared, so it may be 

 well to keep an eye on this, and either cut out or extract the 

 outside combs occasionally. 



Probably the best way to feed back the honey would be to 

 dilute it a half and feed in the open air, providing, of course, 

 other bees don't get it. Otherwise the Miller feeder, or the 

 crock-and-plate feeder would work. 



Now, mind you, I'm only guessing at what is best to do. 



How to Insure Sections of 

 Safely. 



Honey Shipping 



I wish we could get the collective wisdom of our sages on 

 this matter. But, then, to the confusion of the tyro, their 

 opinions differ so on this, as on most other matters. For in- 

 stance, B. Taylor, in his Toronto essay, says he fills his sec- 

 tion with " moderately heavy foundation," and boastfully re- 

 marks that he has sent 200-pound lots 700 miles with three 

 railway transfers without a single section breaking down. Had 

 the "moderately-heavy foundation" anything to do with in- 

 suring this safety ? Also, had the viscidity of the honey (as a 

 result of 60 days storage in an iron-house with free air circu- 

 lation) anything to do with it? Does he use spiral springs for 

 his crates, or corrugated paper, perhaps ? I wish he'd be less 

 tantalizing, and a trifle more explicit. These big fellows just 

 hint at things — in a rather supercilious sort of way — telling us 

 youngsters just enough to make us long to know more. I wish 

 you would " squeeze " B. T. a bit on this point. 



I said just now that the opinions of our leading lights 

 differ so vexatiously on many minor — aye, and on many major 

 points, too. Now, at this same Toronto convention we have 

 Allen Pringle telling us most emphatically that it is a mistake 

 to use full sheets of foundation, or anything beyond the merest 

 starters, in sections. I wonder if A. P.'s sections travel, as a 

 rule, as safely as Mr. Taylor's. And here let me pass in my 

 humble thank-offering to both these gentlemen for their 

 highly interesting and very valuable essays. These "old 

 boys " take a deal of trouble to give us youngsters, in their 

 essays, the benefit of their long years of experience, and de- 

 serve every individual bee-keeper's special thanks. 



I'oit would appear to have hit upon a good "dodge" of 

 strengthening sections of houey for traveling by using a top 

 a?icJ bottom starter. I mean to try it. What thickness of 

 foundation do you recommend for these starters ? 



South Africa. S. D. 



Answer. — I have generally used the same thickness of 

 foundation in both top and bottom starters. I don't like ex- 

 tra-thin foundation for either place, but if I used it for top 

 starters I certainly would have something heavier for the bot- 

 tom. Indeed, when I use thin (not extra-thin) foundation at 

 the top, I like for the bottom something a little heavier, or 

 perhaps more properly something with higher sidewalls, so it 

 will not be so likely to topple over. 



^ ■ ■ 



Getting: Bees Out of a Chiuincy— Separators. 



1. What is the best plan to get bees out of a; chimney, 

 either just located, or of one or two years' standing ? 



2. Will bees work better in sections with no separators ? 

 I always use full sheets of Van Deusen thin foundation. 



Last season was a good one with us. I took 4,932 pounds 

 from 50 colonies, spring count. They swarmed but little. 



Utah. 



Answers. — 1. Sometimes the boarding can be cut away, 

 then by the use of smoke the combs can bo cut out and all 

 removed. If no cutting is allowed, then perhaps the easiest 

 way to drive out the bees is by means of carbolic acid. Bees 

 cannot stand the fumes of this, and as soon as it gets too 

 strong they will make for the open air. 



2. Possibly there may be a shade of difference, at least in 

 theory, but it isn't enough so that you can detect it in actual 

 practice. 



