260 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 23, 



cracker-boxes, five in moth-pronf box-hives that were not quite 

 as good as the gums, and the rest were a job-lot mixture. 

 Some of the colonies were about to starve, and I fed thera 

 during warm days in December. 



I got a supply of 8-frame dovetailed hives in the flat, and 

 during the winter and early spring I put them in shape and 

 painted them. I procured a copy of " Langstroth ou the 

 Honey-Bee," "ABC of Bed-Culture," "Bees and Honey," 

 and "Amateur Bee-Keeper," and took the "old reliable" 

 American Bee Journal. 



When spring came I got a little impatient, and trans- 

 ferred one colony one warm afternoon ; two days later they 

 were gone — probably robbed. I then waited until fruit-bloom, 

 and tried again, with better success. I transferred all of 

 them, putting them back on the same stands. After I got my 

 hand in, and my nerve up, I could take an old gum or bos- 

 hive from a stand, take it to the honey-house, break it open, 

 take all brood and straight Amb, fasten it in frames, drive in 

 the bees, and have it back on the stand again, and all in -±0 

 minutes. Out of my 33 colonies I saved 27, spring count. 



I then sent South for six Italian queens. The first two 

 were lost in introducing, the shipping-cages being the old 

 style, and not self-introducing, t left the cages in two or three 

 days, then opened them up and let the queens out, but the 

 bees were mad, and made short work of them. The balance 

 were in proper cages, but did not arrive until so late that it 

 delayed my Italianizing, so I only got about half of them 

 Italianized. 



I had but few early swarms, and the late ones I put back 

 into the same hive after cutting out all queen-cells. My bees 

 gathered some honey in June, but very little at any other 

 time. May was a little too showery, and the latter part of the 

 summer and fall were too dry. 



I got only about 500 pounds of comb honey, and had to 

 feed about 200 pounds of sugar in the fall. One or two colo- 

 nies stored about 50 pounds each in one-pound sections, and 

 then I had to feed them in the fall. 



Cider-mills, cane-mills, and fruit rotting in the orchards 

 played hob with bees in this section of country, and they went 

 into winter quarters very weak in numbers, and with but 

 little honey. Had I known what I do now regarding the sea- 

 son, I should have taken ofif the supers early in August, and 

 fed a little to stimulate breeding, regardless of the extra 

 amount of sugar necessary for wintering. 



I began the winter with 31 colonies, and hoped to come 

 out in the spring with about the same as I started in with, 

 spring count. They were wintered on the summer stands, 

 with one of Mr. Abbott's sugar-loaves over each colony, that 

 covered with cloth, and the balance of the super packed with 

 old cloths, carpet, straw, or anything that would hold heat 

 and absorb moisture. If we had any warm, sunshiny days in 

 winter or early spring, I expected to take the covers off the 

 hives and allow the packing in the supers to dry as much as 

 possible, without disturbing the bees. 



METHOD OF NUMBERING HIVES. 



My method of numbering hives is to take the nicest, 

 smoothest pieces of broken sections, paint them dark red, then 

 numbers in yellow. I iree patterns of the numbers cut out of 

 oil-pasteboard. Little girls or boys make splendid painters at 

 such work, and it keeps them out of mischief during the long 

 winter evenings. 



I fasten the numbers onfrontof the hives, with four small 

 wire-nails ()^ inch nails are about the right size), and they 

 can be easily removed by slipping a knife blade under and 

 prying it oflf. 



I have a small blank book which I carry in my pocket, 

 and keep a record of each hive on a separate page, which 

 helps me to select queen-cells from the beSt colonies, etc,; 

 also to keep a record of the amount of honey taken from each 

 colony, which enables me to place a proper value on any col- 

 ony I may sell. In fact, I keep a record of almost everything 

 connected with the work — things needed for the future as 

 well as what has been done in the past. 



I leave the numbers on the hives. Although they get 

 mixed up promiscuously in the yard, I can generally tell where 

 any certain number is without hunting. Of course, if I had 

 a large apiary I could not do so. Russellville, Mo. 



The BIcEvoy Foul Brood Xreatment is 



given in Dr. Howard's pamphlet ou " 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. 



Preservation of Comb and Rendering of Wax. 



BT HON. R. L. TAYLOB, 



SupeHnte7ideiit of the Michigaii J^^cpenment Apiary, 

 (Continued from page 2 45.) 

 After the preservation of all comb that promises to be of 

 value as such, there will remain, as intimated at the outset, 

 comb of different descriptions that is of value only for the wax 

 it contains, and still of far too much value for that to excuse 

 its neglect or loss. Conveniences should always be at hand in 

 every apiary for the collection and preservation of all bits that 

 may be trimmed from combs, frames or honey-boards. Such 

 pieces are especially valuable for they are composed almost 

 entirely of wax, and the rendering of them is easy. These 

 and all other comb to be rendered should be kept away from 

 moisture and light until that operation cau conveniently be at- 

 tended to. 



The rendering of brace and burr combs, and of other comb 

 in which no brood has been reared, since they contain nothing 

 to prevent the wax readily separating from the residue, is a 

 comparatively simple matter, but with that of a comb full of 

 cocoons and bee-bread the case is different, and yet, when the 

 proper course is understood, one knows what to expect, and 

 the operation is not a trying one. For that class of comb 

 from which cocoons are absent, almost any method (except the 

 one often recommended, of tying it up in a bag and then boil- 

 ing it to make the wax exude from the bag) will answer toler- 

 ably well. If one is already provided with an ordinary wax- 

 extractor or with a solar wax-extractor it may well be used, 

 but if I were without both I should hardly be to the expense 

 necessary to procure either. At best, the solar extractor is 

 cumbersome, can be used only about two months in the year, 

 and is of no practical utility in rendering comb containing co- 

 coons. As to the ordinary wax-extractor, the best I can say 

 for it after testing it thoroughly for 10 years or more, is that 

 it does tolerably well what can be done much more quickly and 

 easily with au open vessel. 



In the absence of extractors, if the comb to be rendered 

 consists entirely of that without cocoons, it may be put on the 

 stove in almost any kind of a vessel that will stand lire, one of 

 tin or copper being preferable to one of iron, on account of the 

 dark color which the latter imparts to the wax, and brought 

 to a " boil," of course, putting in plenty of water before plac- 

 ing the vessel over the fire. When the wax is all thoroughly 

 melted, let it cool, either upon the stove or in as warm a place 

 as possible off the stove. When the wax is cold it may be lift- 

 ed off almost free of foreign matter, and afterwards treated 

 by a further process described later to fit it for market. 



Everyone who has anything to do with the heating of wax 

 on a stove should be thoroughly impressed with the fact that 

 without unflagging watchfulness the operation is attended 

 with a good deal of danger. Boiling wax is very liable to boil 

 over, in which case it runs at once into the fire-box, takes fire, 

 and almost at once the stove is a mass of flames, and, of course, 

 unless prompt preventive measures are taken, the wax boils 

 over faster and faster, and the house itself runs an extreme 

 risk of destruction. Only a cool, careful person should have 

 charge of such work, and he should never be out of sight of 

 wax boiling, or likely to boil, at least, not until he so thor- 

 oughly understands the details of the process that he knows 

 what, within the possibilities, may happen while he is gone. 

 Boiling wax may be kept from running over in most cases by 

 lifting it with a dipper and pouring it back from a little height, 

 but to meet all emergences adequately, plenty of cold water 

 should always be at hand, with a dipper. Boiling wax is eas- 

 ily controlled by adding cold water. 



For the rendering of combs containing cocoons, and that 

 without cocoons need not be excluded, I think after trying 

 every imaginable method, except that by the use of steam 

 from a boiler, that there is no process for the average bee- 

 keeper equal to that which I now use. It is as follows : 



I provide myself with utensils — a rendering-tank or ket- 

 tle, a perforated-tin vessel, such as is used inside the ordinary 

 wax-extractor, and a tin scoop, such as is used by grocers for 

 the purpose of handling sugar, etc. For the first I use a cir- 

 cular tin vessel, 20 inches in height and 24 inches in diame- 

 ter, which is as large as the top of the stove I use in my honey- 

 house will accommodate, but neither the shape nor size is ma- 

 terial, except so far as the amount of work to be done requires. 

 An old wash-boiler would answer well enough for most apia- 

 ries. The utensil of perforated tin is eight inches high and 

 ten in diameter. The scoop I use would hold about a pint, but 

 its very important characteristic is its sharp edge at the 

 mouth, of one thickness of unfolded tin. 



When ready for the operation, I place the tank, about 

 one-quarter full of water, on the stove in which I make a good 



