170 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



jMarcJi 12. 



is where the acid does its work — on the liquid wax ; for when 

 would it drive the dirt to the bottom, out of old comb ? This 

 process will cleanse the wax if it is boiled in the same water in 

 which it is soaked because the acid is in it. But it is bad en- 

 gineeriop. It will boil over very easily. 



Now, L. H. L., sit down at the feet of experience, and 

 learn. Here are three things you should not do : 1. Never 

 go near a kitchen stove to melt wax. It is dangerous. 2. 

 Don't melt it in any place where any thing can catch fire, even 

 if the whole country burns down. 3. Never put any acid in 

 until your wax is completely melted — every bit of it, out of 

 your old comb. When it is done boiling, pour your acid in 

 slowly — very slowly — stirring your wax all the time until it is 

 milky — quite milky. When you have thoroughly stirred and 

 mixed it, let it settle. The acid drives all the dirt to the bot- 

 tom, and in a little while you can dip it out carefully — not go- 

 ing to the bottom of the wax — and run it into merchantable 

 cakes. — Skylark, in Gleanings. 



The Dark and the Bright Side. 



"Well ! the bees will die anyway, fix them as you will. I 

 do not want much to do with the pesky things. They are too 

 uncertain. You never know when you are going to have a 

 good year for honey or whether it will pay to fuss with them." 



" 1 think you are looking all on the dark side of bee-keep- 

 ing. We must look on all sides for a little profit. I get a 

 great deal of pleasure from my bees, as well as considerable 

 profit some seasons. Bee-keeping is a good school-teacher. It 

 teaches one patience and perseverance." 



" We farmers must work at something that will pay." 



" That is very true, but do you know when you plow and 

 drag your ground for potatoes that you will get a crop ? You 

 must mark the ground, plant and fertilize, cultivate, hoe, put 

 on paris green three or four times, hill them up, dig them, 

 carry them into the cellar and sell them for only 15 cents a 

 bushel, if you sell them just now. Very soon you may hear 

 they are 20 cents, and thinking they will be no higher in 

 price you will carry them out of the cellar, load them into a 

 wagon, draw them to a car perhaps three or four miles away, 

 and for over 40 bushels you will receive .SS.OO. This is not 

 very large pay for the amount of work, but it is what is being 

 done this fall, yet you would not say you will never plant any 

 more potatoes, or sell your farm. Our dividends did not net 

 us more than 35 to 40 cents for 100 pounds of milk some 

 months this season at the factory. We would not sell our cows 

 because of the drought of one or two seasons. We must look 

 on the bright side of things. Keep our bees and love them. 

 Work the harder. Raise a little of many things. We as in- 

 dividuals and a nation are very wicked. We must learn to 

 look to God, the source of all blessing, more than we ever have 

 before, and we will then reap a rich reward. — Mks. Oliver 

 Cole, in American Bee-Keeper." 



Three Stray Straws from Oleanings. 



A record book has this advantage, that it can be referred 

 to at any time, and is often useful in furnishing testimony as 

 to events that transpired years ago. 



M. Bertrand, editor of the Retutc, accepted with favor the 

 theory that bees inherit character from the nurses. He intro- 

 duced a Caucasian queen of great gentleness into a very vic- 

 ious colony, and the progeny of the new queen showed no trace 

 of viciousness. He is now very doubtful as to to the correct- 

 ness of the theory. 



The report of the U. S. Secretary of Agriculture quotes 

 the English honey market as giving "Thurber-Whyland's 

 white-sage, strained, 1-pound jars" at only Ic. a pound more 

 than "Californian in original cans." One can not help pity- 

 ing that poor cent iu having so much to do in covering the ex- 

 pense of jars and putting up. The report innocently re- 

 marks, "It would be ruinous to send adulterated honey to 

 England." 



Importance of Strong Colonies Under all Circumstances. 



Some write as though a colony could get too strong. How 

 it is possible to get one too strong without doubling, I cannot 

 understand. I know that, in poor seasons, only strong colo- 

 nies will do well, even in getting winter stores. In a, fair sea- 

 son the strong colony will outstrip the average colony ; and in 

 a good season the strong colony must certainly do the best, for 

 surely two pounds of bees can and will gather more honey than 

 one pound. I have never been able to believe that apiarists 

 are able to get colonies so strong that they refuse to work. I 

 admit there is a little more energy in proportion to numbers 



when the energy is necessary to get the brood-nest into shape ; 

 but this does not apply to the colony already in prime strength. 

 I can always get more and better work in the sections when 

 I have colonies so strong that they must occupy the super. If 

 the flow comes very freely while it does last, we do not notice 

 it so much ; but when the gain is one to two, and even three 

 pounds a part of the time, per day, it is almost impossible to 

 get even reasonable work in sections with a colony that has not 

 swarmed ; while the one that swarms will do ajmost nothing 

 in sections ; but two colonies put together in one hive (the bees 

 and enough brood to^W the hive) will do fair to good work. 



This year (1895) our flow began June 20. My scale hive 

 colony was stronger than the average, and was not allowed to 

 swarm. It is a 10-frame hive. The gain from June 20 to 

 July 15 (the extent of the flow) was an average ef 2J^ pounds 

 per day. The best day's work was 6 pounds. This colony 

 gave about 25 sections. Many other average colonies in nine- 

 frame hives, and a few in eight-frame, gave from nothing to 

 about one super, the majority not giving 10 good sections. In 

 one case I put the force of two colonies in one nine-frame 

 hive, and got two 28-section supers. Another colony on nine 

 frames had the forces from two other colonies added, and gave 

 three 2S-section supers. All the evidence goes to show that, 

 if I had doubled the forces of all, preserving the old stock in 

 original hives, I should have had as many colonies in the end. 

 and about doubled my surplus, — R. C. Aiken, in Gleanings. 



Difference in Colonies. 



For instance, the colony which I would call best on May 

 15 might become one of the poorest by June 25, at which 

 time the honey harvest was about to arrive. This as a rule, 

 would be owing to a failing queen, as I have often noticed that 

 a colony which wintered extremely well and goes to breeding 

 rapidly in early spring, does not equal one that wintered only 

 fairly well, but commences brood rearing in earnest on May 1. 

 The reason is that by about May 25 to June 1 the queen in 

 the stronger one ceases to be as prolific as the other, and this 

 allows the bees to put the first honey coming in into the brood- 

 combs, rather forcing it into the sections, as does the other 

 through her extra-prolificness later on. I have often noticed 

 that if the bees are allowed to get the start of the queen so as 

 to store much honey in the brood-chamber during the first of 

 the honey harvest, that colony will be an unprofitable one. 



The remedy is to give each colony only as many combs as 

 the queen will keep occupied with brood, and when a colony 

 is found having a failing queen, either give another queen or 

 remove a part of the brood-combs. Again, the giving of a col- 

 ony a large amount of surplus room to start with has a ten- 

 dency to make that colony an unprofitable one. As it has not 

 a force of bees large enough to occupy the whole of the sur- 

 plus department at once they seem to become discouraged, and 

 Instead of taking possession of a part of it, they will often 

 cluster outside the hive, and crowd the brood out with honey, 

 sometimes never entering the sections at all. I usually give 

 only room in the surplus apartment to the amount of 20 

 pounds, and a part of this space has combs in it left over from 

 the previous season, thereby coaxing the bees into the sections 

 with their first loads of new honey. In a week, more room is 

 given, and so on as I see each colony needs, as all colonies are 

 looked after once a week at this time of year, if possible. — G. 

 M. DooLiTTLE, in Progressive Bee-Keeper. 



Poultry with Bees. 



Dr. J. H. Ashley says in Gleanings: "We believe from 

 personal experience that the raising of poultry furnishes just 

 what we are looking for ; namely, an occupation not laborious, 

 but whose returns for faithful attention are sure, and where 

 the most active labor comes at that season of year when bees 

 need the least attention. This is equally suitable for the bee- 

 keeper who does the work himself, or for him who, like our- 

 selves, while actively engaged in professional work, wants 

 something at home which, by way of change, furnishes pleas- 

 ure and relaxation, and still makes it profitable to keep a good 

 active man of all work. By keeping a few standard-bred 

 fowls of a variety giving a profusion of eggs and fine bodies, we 

 have the pleasure of seeing fine birds of uniform size and color, 

 and having on our tables fresh eggs, and fowls of our own 

 raising ; and, even without any special efifort by advertising, 

 there will be a demand among our friends and neighbors for 

 sittings of eggs, with an occasional call for a trio, or pen of 

 birds from our pure-bred stock, which, sold at even a moder- 

 ate price, will soon more than repay the difference in the orig- 

 inal cost between starting with thoroughbreds and common 

 fowls : and iu nothing does blood tell more surely than in 

 fowls." 



H^ See "Bee-Keeper's Guide" offer on page 173. 



