196 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 26, 



face of the earth (where bees are kept) that one of the above 

 systems can't be worked to the best advantage. Outside of 

 these systems I do not consider bee-keeping a profitable busi- 

 noss — at least in this part of the country. 



The Dadant hive will be the best for those who still stick 

 to the single story brood-chamber, and far better than the 

 Langstroth hive, for several reasons. For me, the Langstroth 

 hive has seen its best days, for it is too deep to tier up to the 

 best advantage, either for brood or honey, and it is too shal- 

 low to give the best result in wintering. In fact, I have seen 

 but few who could honestly recommend it as the best hive. 



What gave the Langstroth hive its prominence was the 

 great advantage it afforded the manufacturers, who made the 

 hive to sell, requiring boards of but 10 inches in width, which 

 are the cheapest, and in their eagnerness to sell the cheapest, 

 the Langstroth hive was universally adopted. 



Dr. Tinker has a far better bee-hive and system, and his 

 frame is far ahead of the standard Langstroth frame; it is 

 handier to manipulate, and the bees will build better and 

 truer combs in these smaller frames. It is also handy for 

 handling hives instead of frames, which is another short cut 

 in handling bees. 



The single case is just right for contracting, for building 

 up colonies in spring, and for those who want increase. This 

 little hive is just the thing for hiving late swarms (if swarm- 

 ing is allowed), and the brood-chamber, containing 800 

 inches, is sufficient to winter most colonies, although two are 

 better. And the great beauty of the hive is that a queen will 

 pass from one case to the other without the least trouble, 

 which they will not do with the standard Langstroth, unless 

 they are in the very best condition. 



A young and vigorous queen, right in her prime of fer- 

 tility, I have found will enter without any trouble the double 

 standard Langstroth, other conditions being equal, but such 

 queens are not always on hand, and another thing is, that 

 adding 8 Langstroth combs makes too much of a change, and 

 will retard brood-rearing, unless it is done at just the right 

 time; and a change in the weather would do great damage to 

 colonies thus expanded; therefore, 800 inches of comb is the 

 best for safety. 



I would like to hear of the success others are having with 

 this bee-hive. I am sure that but few will have anything to 

 say against it. Another great advantage is that the combs 

 used in the brood-chamber can also be used to the best advan- 

 tage in producing extracted honey, doing away with the nui- 

 sance of two kinds of combs in the same hive ; and it is nest 

 to impossible to produce a gilt-edge article with deep extract- 

 Ing-combs, as the bees are loth to enter it, and there will be 

 ripe honey at the upper edge, and thin, watery honey at the 

 lower edge, which spoils the quality. The same applies to the 

 production of comb honey, and the deep comb will not give 

 the best result with the bee-escape. 



For those who desire a closed-end reversible frame, the 

 New Heddon hive is the ideal. I consider the New Heddon 

 hive and system of bee-keeping the best for all purposes, but 

 it would be better if the brood-case was a little larger, for it 

 is claimed by some that in producing comb honey the bees are 

 inclined to carry pollen to the sections. Findlay, Ohio. 



Honey as Food and Me«licine.— A new and revised 

 edition of this 33-page pamphlet is now issued. It has 5 blank 

 pages on which to write or paste recipes taken from other sources. 

 It is just what its name indicates, and should be liberally dis- 

 tributed among the people everywhere to create a demand for 

 honey. It contains a number of recipes on the use of honey as 

 food and as medicine, besides much other interesting and valuable 

 information. Prices, postpaid, are: Single copy, 5 cts. ; 10 copies 

 30 cts. ; 50 for SI. 00 1 100 tor SI. 75. Better give them a trial. Send 

 all orders to the Bee Journal office. 



Back Numbers. — ^Ve 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. 



The McEvoy Foul Brood Treatment is 



given ill 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. 



^-.-*. 



See " Bee-Keeper's Guide" offer on page 206. 



The Colorado State Bee-Keepers' Couvetitiou. 



KEPOKTED BY F. L. THOMPSON". 

 (Continued from page 183.) 

 An essay from Theodore Lohf, of Brighton, was read, on 

 the " Use of Foundation." The chief points are as follows : 



THE USE OF COMB FOUNDATION. 



For surplus, I use as narrow starters as possible, say }4 

 to % inch, in order to have a nice article of honey, and to 

 save foundation, which is equal to money. I fasten starters 

 with the Daisy foundation fastener. It is easy to put in 2,000 

 starters a day. 



I find the sections must be well warmed and dried after 

 folding, or else the wax will not stick. If only one starter 

 should become loose, the loss might be three sections in the 

 super. 



For brood-frames I use full sheets. I have not succeeded 

 vat all times in former years with wired frames; while work- 

 ing for comb honey, I do not care for them. The bees require 

 little help in working the combs straight when started right. 

 I hang a frame of foundation between two straight combs. I 

 find it valuable in building up weak colonies and in prevent- 

 ing strong ones from building drone-comb. 



Theodore Lohf. 



The essay was then discussed. 



H. Rauchfuss — I should do just the opposite — use full 

 sheets above and starters below. More honey results. There 

 is danger of swarms swarming again when hived on full 

 sheets, even when they have dwindled. Very strong colonies 

 do not swarm as much as medium or weak colonies. I have 

 hived swarms on drawn combs which started queen-cells in 

 three days, and then swarmed. Before I'd use full combs I'd 

 cut them out and melt them in the solar extractor. Never 

 use drawn combs except for building up weak colonies and 

 nuclei. Don't use unwired sheets unless you want more 

 drone-comb than in any other way. The foundation will 

 stretch at the top. The nicest work in comb-building is at 

 the very first of the flow. My most perfect combs are built 

 by nuclei, from starters over wires in the first part of the sea- 

 son. If swarms build rapidly, even their comb will stretch. 

 Foundation in weak colonies late in the season may not be 

 worked at all, except to have holes gnawed in it. 



Pres. Aikin — It is very bad advice to use foundation with- 

 out wire. 



H. Rauchfuss — Even with wire, combs from full sheets 

 are not so nice as combs built from starters. They are like a 

 sheet of tin which has been pounded. They bulge every way. 



Pres. Aikin asked the convention how many had found 

 that by using full sheets they would get an abundance of 

 drone-comb by the stretching of the foundation. A rising 

 vote was taken. The majority had found it so. 



The most important question in the question-box was: 



WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF THE LONGEVITY OF DIFFERENT COLO- 

 NIES OF BEES ? 



H. Rauchfuss— I had one colony which was not very 

 strong, not even medium. Not long after it received a super, 

 it filled it. It continued that way all summer, and kept up 

 only four frames of brood. Such a colony I consider a weak 

 one. But it outstripped every colony in the yard. We had 

 another which for three years was the best one. It was never 

 more than medium in strength. The reason for such cases is, 

 that the bees lived longer, and did not have to support so 

 much brood for the same results. 



Pres. Aikin — The system of unqueening ought to give the 

 opportunity to observe this point, but I did not have my at- 

 tention called to it. I had one colony which lost every queen 

 given to it, yet it stored abundance of honey, though it had 

 very few bees at the end of the season. The question is a very 

 complicated one, and requires much care in observation. 

 Queens lay freely at different times. Some writer has said 

 that a queen with a large thorax is better. 



F. Rauchfuss — The colony referred to by my brother had 



