1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



293 



The colony having brood in three or four combs is now 

 looked after, the queen's wing clipped, if not already so, and 

 the amount of brood noted, as well as the amount of honey. If 

 they do not have honey enough, a frame of honey is set over 

 beyond the division-board so they can run under and get as 

 they want, for our object now is to keep this colony on the 

 five frames they already have till they are literally full of 

 brood. In this way we keep the strongest of the weak colo- 

 nies till they have five frames of brood, when one frame is 

 taken, which has the most mature brood in it, and given to 

 some colony not quite as strong which has only four combs of 

 brood. The next time over these weak colonies, a frame of 

 as nearly mature brood as possible is taken from each of the 

 colonies now having five frames of brood, while each time a 

 frame of brood is thus taken from any colony a frame of 

 honey is put in the place of it, the same as we did in the 

 strong colony to stimulate brood-rearing. 



The next time frames are taken from each of the colonies 

 having five frames of brood and given to those having only 

 two frames, for by this time it has become warm weather, so 

 there is no danger from chilling brood with the weakest we 

 had at the beginning. 



Thus I keep working till all that are weak colonies in the 

 spring contain five frames of brood, which should occur about 

 June 20, in an average season in this locality. 



I now go to hive No. 1 and open it, looking the frames 

 over till I find the one the queen is on, when it is set outside 

 of the hive and the four remaining frames, with all the ad- 

 hering bees, and taken to No. 2. I next spread apart the 

 frames in No. 2, so as to set the four frames brought from No. 

 1 in each alternate space made by spreading the frames in 

 No. 2, when the hive is closed. In a few days this colony will 

 be equal to the very best in the yard, and if it does not store 

 as much comb honey as any of the best colonies you had in 

 the spring, it will turn out diflFerently with you than it does 

 with me. 



In this way I get as much comb honey from two weak 

 colonies in the spring as I do from one of the very best, and 

 make a good nucleus out of the frame which had the queen on 

 it, besides. I might tell what I do with this nucleus during the 

 season, but it would make this article too long, and, besides, 

 it is foreign to the production of comb honey. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Timely Articles — Other Suggestions. 



BY WM. S. BABCLAY. 



I can conceive scarcely anything in the course of our 

 labors which affords such a treat as a well-written article de- 

 scriptive of some implement, or some particular manner of 

 work, which will lead us to success, and at the same time 

 save labor in the apiary and the workshop ; and to receive 

 the instructions therein contained at a time when we can put 

 them at once to a practical test, is still a greater pleasure. 

 That we cannot have such a pleasure at all times is certainly 

 our misfortune, but that such is the case, we all well know, 

 as, for instance, it almost always happens that at the swarm- 

 ing and honey-gathering season, many things happen which 

 we would be glad to make known to our fellow bee-keepers, 

 but by reason of weariness from work, and being pressed for 

 time, we are deprived of giving the pleasure we are all so 

 anxious to receive. 



Heating Honey. — Such an article as above referred to, 

 was the one on page o6, on " Experiments in Heating Honey," 

 by Hon. R. L. Taylor. At the time it came to hand, I was 

 engaged in liquifying candied honey, and it may be imagined 

 I perused it with much satisfaction, and although I have been 

 using much the same process heretofore in restoring honey to 

 its orignal state, there were implements described and sug- 



gestions thrown out as regards temperature, etc., which I 

 shall hasten to put to practical use, and I cheerfully embrace 

 the present occasion to heartily thank Mr. Taylor for his 

 valuable suggestions. 



Bees Spokting. — I observed on page 34, that Dr. Miller 

 (who with Doolittle is the first I look for when I get the Bee 

 Journal) does not like my idea " that old, as well as young, 

 bees sport before their hives." Well, I fear I cannot resist 

 the conclusion I advanced when stating the above opinion, 

 neither do I think the Doctor will if he observes carefully. It 

 is certainly easy to distinguish between a young, fuzzy Italian 

 and a smooth, aged one — the difference in color of both of 

 these o?i ;/ic ioi?ig is plainly visible. Now keep your eyes on 

 the darker ones (old bees) until they alight on the entrance- 

 board, and you will soon learn whether the old bees engage in 

 " sporting." If you do not reach the same opinion as myself, 

 I must think that you are breeding a different strain of Ital- 

 ians from those I have propagated with the greatest care 

 since 1861, when I got my first Langstroth queen (Italian). 



Smoker-Fuel. — But what will our neat, cleanly lady bee- 

 keepers say to the Doctor for his apparent endorsement of a 

 smoker-fuel (on page 38), by his answer to a question on this 

 point? While on this subject, let me say that probably the 

 cleanest and most lasting smoker-fuel is fine chips from sugar- 

 tree or maple. As a cheap fuel, I find to take old newspapers 

 (thick carpet paper is better), put them in loose rolls about two 

 inches in diameter, and soak them in pretty strong salt-petre 

 water, and then thoroughly dry them. 1 find nothing cheaper 

 or more convenient. Beaver, Pa. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. C. MLLLER. AIAJRENGO, ILL, 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.] 



Honey or Sugar for Spring Feeding. 



Which is the cheaper for spring feeding of bees, dark ex- 

 tracted honey at -i cents a pound, or granulated sugar at 6 

 cents a pound ? H. L. 



Ansvfer. — Now, look here, you can figure that as well as 

 I can, and I'm just a little afraid you're trying to show how 

 much I don't know. But let's figure it up together, and you 

 watch whether the figuring is all right. About 2 pounds of 

 water to 5 pounds of sugar will make, if I am not mistaken, a 

 syrup about equivalent to honey in consistency. The 5 

 pounds of sugar cost 30 cents, and as the water is free, that 

 makes 7 pounds of syrup at 30 cents, or 4 2/7 cents per 

 pound. So the i-cent honey is the cheaper of the two, pro- 

 viding figures don't lie, which they sometimes do. But it's 

 possible that bees will consume more of the honey than of the 

 sugar — R. L. Taylor found they used more honey than sugar 

 in winter — and that might turn the scale to make the sugar 

 cheaper. On the other hand, 5 pounds of sugar and 2 of 

 water don't make 7 pounds of syrup, for there's some evap- 

 oration, so that brings up the cost of the sugar again. Guess 

 you'll spend less money to buy honey at 4 cents than sugar at 

 6 cents. 



Now I want to ask another question I'd like to have you 

 answer. With honey at 4 cents and sugar at 6 cents, which 

 had I better use for spring feeding? Por it may be that 



