ESTABLISHED •- 

 [OLDEST BEE-PAPER 



7*ut>llsbed Weekly* at 9l»00 per annxun. 



Sample Copy sent on Application, 



36th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., APRIL 23, 1896. 



No. 17. 



Oi(iril)tff(l 



y 



Coutiauiug to Work Toward Comb Honey. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



As a rule, I do not think it best to call attention to slight 

 mistakes in any article of mine, after they get in print, 

 whether the mistake was made by the " typo" or myself, but 

 the one in my article, on page 193, is of such a character that 

 it should be rectified. The sentence at the bottom of the first 

 column reads : "The next pleasant day more are put out in 

 the same way, and at about the same time, scattering them 

 about as before, but paying no attention as to how near they 

 come to those put out at the same time." The *^ at the 

 same time" should have been before, as bees set out at the 

 same time will mix up on their first flight after being set from 

 the cellar, if set near each other, but if one of these colonies 

 has been out of the cellar 24 hours or more, the bees will not 

 mix, no matter how closely to the first set out, the second one 

 may be placed. 



With this explanation we will continue the theme of work- 

 ing for conb honey, beginning where we left off on page 19-1. 

 After having reversed the brood-nest, as there given, we wait 

 for about 10 days, when we take a frame of honey from the 

 colony, if the hive contains such, or from the shop, if we have 

 such there and not in the hive ; or if we have no frames of 

 honey anywhere about the premises, we fill combs with sugar 

 syrup, which will answer the same purpose. We now open 

 the hive and separate the brood-nest in the middle, when we 

 insert this comb of honey or sugar syrup in the center of the 

 brood-nest, after which the combs are brought up to comb- 

 space apart all through the hive, and the hive closed. If it 

 should be a comb of sealed honey used for this purpose, the 

 sealing to the cells should be broken by passing a knife flat- 

 wise over the cells, bearing on sufficiently to break the cap- 

 pings to the cells. Most writers cell us to use a feeder when 

 feeding bees in the spring, but after trying all plans of feeding 

 to stimulate brood-rearing, I have never found anything 

 which will begin to equal this plan here given, all things taken 

 into consideration. 



By the removing of this honey and the queen immediately 

 filling the comb with eggs as soon as the honey is removed, 

 brood-rearing is accelerated to an extent greater than in any 

 other way I know of, while the excitement caused by the 

 same, causes the bees to keep up the proper temperature in 

 the brood-nest, even should a few days of cool weather occur 

 at this time, which is not very liable this late in the season. 



The great objection to the spreading of the brood, usually 

 placed before the bee-fraternity, is that there is danger of a 

 cold snap occurring just after such a manipulation, which 

 often causes the death of much brood, this being against an 

 increase of bees in time for the honey harvest, rather than 

 favorable to the same. No one should advise the promiscuous 

 spreading of the brood, or an ignorant attempt of the same 



by any novice, but by a careful, intelligent use of the plan as 

 here given, the prospects of a good yield of comb honey is 

 greatly increased, where the honey-flow we are striving to 

 reach with our laborers commences on or before .Tuly 1st to 

 10th. If the honey-flow occurs later than this, most colonies, 

 as a rule, will get strong enough in numbers to do good work 

 in the same, if they are " left to their own sweet will." 



In about 10 days more, the brood-nest is to be reversed 

 again, when, if all has worked well, there will be brood in all 

 but the two extreme outside combs at each side of the hive, 

 and generally some in these; but if not, there soon will be, 

 owing to the full sheets of brood coming next to them. This 

 plan of spreading of the brood has often been called "fussy," 

 and too much work is attributed to it, but from 25 years' ex- 

 perience with what is outlined above, I am prepared to say 

 that no work with the bees pays as well in comb honey as a 

 judicious use of this plan. It will be noted that no hive need 

 be opened more than three times previous to the honey har- 

 vest, while the doing of this practically insures to us the 

 laborers for the harvest, juH in time for the harvest; and the 

 having of the laborers just in time for the harvest is the one 

 great secret of successful comb-honey production. Failing in 

 this point — of securing the laborers in time for the harvest — 

 the flowers will bloom in vain for us, and empty sections be 

 the greeting we shall have after the harvest (we might have 

 had) is over. 



In all of the operations with bees in the spring of the 

 year or early part of the summer, the top of the hive should 

 be closed as tightly as possible, the quilt, if you use one, be 

 tucked down as neatly as possible, so that the warm air gen- 

 erated by the bees shall be continually escaping from the hive 

 through the cracks left open, for u'armth in the hive and clus- 

 ter is another of the great essentials toward securing the 

 laborers in time for the honey harvest, for brood-rearing can- 

 not go on to its greatest degree unless the temperature inside 

 the cluster can be steadily maintained at from 92- to 98° 

 above zero, as I have proven by several tests with a self-regis- 

 tering thermometer. 



Then, each bive should be provided with a wide alighting- 

 board, reaching from the hive-entrance to the ground, so that 

 bees coming home heavily loaded with pollen and partially 

 chilled on cool, windy days, when the sun is partially shaded 

 by clouds, may not fall under the hive by missing the entrance 

 to the hive, and die from cold when being so near home. I 

 have seen hundreds of dead bees under hives set on stakes a 

 little up from the ground with no suitable alighting-board, 

 each bee having its pollen-baskets filled with pollen. Each 

 old bee is worth, at this season of the year, 500 after the 

 honey harvest is over, hence we should look well to all of the 

 little things which, at this time of the year, tend toward our 

 success in the immediate future. Borodino, N. Y. 



Apiaries in Suuny, Sheltered Places. 



BY GEO. J. VANDEVORD. 



I read Mr. Davenport's article, on "Locating Apiaries in 

 Sheltered Places " (page 82), with much interest, and after 

 reading that he would like to have others give their experi- 

 ence along this line, I thought perhaps my own experience 

 might be of some little interest and value to others, though it 

 does not coincide with very much that I have read, but unless 

 I am mistaken in the conditions prevailing in Mr. Davenport's 



