Feb. 1, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



71 



smarting sensation that I spoke of. Would it do any good 

 to leave it on the hive until fall ? 



5. By the way, that sug-gests another question : What 

 is the best way to extract honey ? To extract as fast as wo 

 can find combs pretty well filled and about half sealed, 

 taking a few, perhaps two or three out at a time, or have 

 plenty of super room, and when one is nearly tilled put 

 another filled with comb or comb foundation under it, and 

 not extract but once, and that when the honey season is 

 over ? 



6. Will it make any difference with the flavor of the 

 honey, or with the working of the bees ? I thought last 

 summer that it seemed to discourage some of the swarms 

 to take some of the frames away and supply their places 

 with empty comb. When I have extracted, the weather has 

 usually been dry and hot, and I have never had any trouble 

 with unripe honey. Kansas. 



Answers. — 1. It may be impossible to tell for certain 

 which one of several causes may have made the difference 

 between your neighbor's honey and yours, if indeed it were 

 possible to name all the causes that might operate. His 

 bees may not have workt on the same flowers as yours, and 

 there is a decided difference as to the granulating of differ- 

 ent honey. The way in which honey is kept makes a dif- 

 ference in granulation, and his honey may not have been 

 kept in the same way as yours. His new comb may have 

 kept the honey longer from candying than your old comb in 

 which some candied honey may have been present when 

 the bees began to store in it. 



2. It will have an effect in that direction. 



3. I don't know. I never tasted any such honey but 

 once, and I never care to taste it again. It think it was a 

 sample that some one had at the convention at the World's 

 Fair at Chicago. The effect was about the same as that of 

 eating Indian turnips. At first you scarcely tasted any- 

 thing wrong with the honey ; but after you had tasted it, 

 the biting, burning sensation kept increasing till it was 

 quite painful. I supposed the honey was gathered from 

 some special flower, and I know of no way of avoiding such 

 honey unless it would be to destroy the objectionable 

 plants. It is just possible that long keeping might modify 

 its viciousness, for it is said that rank onion honey be- 

 comes quite good with age, but I should hardly expect this 

 pungent article to give up its character. Can any one tell 

 us from what plant it is gathered, and whether it improves 

 with age ? 



4. Possibly it might not be so bad in the fall ; but it 

 would probably still be bad. 



5. Some of our best bee-keepers practice the last plan 

 mentioned, doing no extracting till the close of the season, 

 and the tendency seems to be getting more and more away 

 from the plan at first practiced by many, of extracting be- 

 fore the honey was sealed. 



6. As a rule, the honey that is left long in the hive will 

 be of better body and flavor. If taken too soon after being 

 gathered, it is considered unfit to put on the market. So 

 far as the bees are concerned, they are stimulated rather 

 than discouraged by having an empty comb or combs given 

 them. 



Getting Bees Out from Under a House-Siding. 



I enclose a drawing of a house in which is located a 

 colony of bees between two studding and under the siding. 

 They are, as you will see, about 16 feet above the ground, a 

 little to the left and below a window in the second story. 

 They have the space between the two studding, and about 

 8 feet in length, filled with honey, going in near the lower 

 part thru a knot-hole. I would like to get the bees afid 

 honey out as early as possible in the spring and save the 

 bees. Kindly tell me how you would do it. 



Illinois. 



Answer. — If you are a novice in handling bees, it 

 might be well for you to get the help of some one familiar 

 with such things, and if at the same time he is a carpenter, 

 so much the better. Erect a scaffold sufficiently high, and 

 commence removing the siding above the bees. Apply 

 smoke before and during the operation with sufficient fre- 

 quency to keep the bees from being too intimate. As you 

 get down to where the combs begin, thrust a knife down to 

 sever the attachments of the comb to the siding before re- 

 moving each piece of siding. When the combs are laid 

 bare, cut them away carefully, still using smoke as much as 

 necessary, and transfer the brood .into the frames of a hive 

 as directed in your text-bopjc for.transfemng. Py tbg time 



you are thru with that part of the job, very likely a large 

 part of the bees will be clustered on the place from which 

 the combs were taken. Huild some kind of a platform on 

 your scaffold on which you can place your hive so that the 

 entrance of the hive will be thrust into the bees. If they 

 do not start to go in the hive of their own accord, brush a 

 few into the entrance to give them a hint. If this is not a 

 success, owing to the stubbornness of the bees or some 

 other cause, hold a frame of the brood in the cluster till it 

 is well covered with bees, then put it in the hive and use 

 another frame, till the bees are all in the hive. Or, you 

 may take something like a dipper and dip the bees up, and 

 then gently pour them on the brood-frames. Persevere in 

 one way or another till you get all the bees, for the queen 

 might be in a small cluster remaining. If you happen to 

 see the queen, you needn't be so particular about getting 

 the last of the bees ; but smoke heavily those left till they 

 prefer some other quarter. Then set your hive where you 

 want it to stay. 



^ • » 



Moving Bees in March. 



How should I pack my bees for a long-distance ship- 

 ment ? They are now packt in a box which is six inches 

 larger each way than the hive. I filled in straw between. 

 I am going to move to Minnesota in March. I got some 

 nice honey last year, tho it was a poor one, about 45 pounds 

 to the colony. The sweet clover was the main honey- 

 plant. Illinois. 



Answer. — The main thing is to see that they have . 

 sufficient ventilation, and, if they have a long enough con- 

 finement, that they do not suffer for water. If you do not 

 have fixt-distance frames, the frames must be secured 

 against moving, and this may be done by driving a nail 

 down thru each end of each top-bar, not driving the nail 

 clear in, but leaving the head projecting enough so that 

 you can easily draw it out with the claw of a hammer when 

 the bees are again on the stands. Just what is the best 

 way to give ventilation depends on the build of the hive. 

 In March there is less air needed than when the weather is 

 hot. If the entrance amounts to 12 square inches or more, 

 all that is necessary is to cover the entrance with wire-cloth 

 in any way that is convenient and secure. If the entrance 

 is not large enough, you can make a rim the size of the hive 

 and an inch or two deep, covered with wire-cloth, and let 

 this take the place of the cover. Before fastening up the 

 hive, there should be given a sponge filled with water, or a 

 roll of wet cloth, which could be wet afresh on the journey 

 if necessary, but perhaps it would not be necessary in 

 March. 



York's Honey Calendar for 1900 is a 16-page pamph- 

 let especially gotten up to create a demand for honey among 

 should-be consumers. The forepart was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to general information concern- 

 ing honey. The latter part consists of recipes for use in 

 cooking and as a medicine. It will be found to be a very 

 effective helper in working up a home market for honey. 

 We furnish them, postpaid, at these prices : A sample 

 free ; 25 copies for 30 cents ; 50 for SO cents ; 100 for 90 

 cents ; 250 for $2.00 ; 500 for $3.50. For 25 cents extra we 

 will print your name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these pricefe. 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 

 the name of the new bee-keeper's song — words by Hon. 

 Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 

 thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 

 Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can 

 furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 

 for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 

 sending us one new yearly subscription to the American 

 Bee Journal at $1.00. 



Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the 

 copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent 

 by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee 

 Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and 

 thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00 

 for your Bee Journal subscription a full year in advance, 

 we will mail yPH a Wopd Pinder fre^— if yov, will meption it, 



