214 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 5, 1900. 



could not compete with the cheaper grades. He believed 

 that a fancy grade could not be secured without the use of 

 separators, and that a good share of the low-grade honey 

 that was put on the market was produced without separa- 

 tors, or else by those who were not particular enough in 

 their manipulation of the bees for the production of comb 

 honey in the first-class g-rade. The latter should produce 

 extracted honey. 



The discussion that followed brought out the fact that 

 many who extract do not take the care they should in allow- 

 ing the honey to become thoroly ripened. Many are known 

 to extract the honey and young brood, and the milky sub- 

 stance that surrounds it, and all had a bad effect upon the 

 honey. 



Mr. Delos Wood contended that there was no harm in 

 extracting honey before it was capt. He had practiced that 

 plan for years, and had no trouble in selling his honey at 

 the highest market price, and people who buy his honey 

 always come back for more. Mr. Wood said that his honey 

 was very thin when he extracted it. but he left it in the 

 tank until it ripened to the proper consistency. 



A paper was read by Mr. W. A. Pryal, on " The Early 

 Bee and How to Get ' Him.' " His idea is to feed in Octo- 

 ber in order that there may be a large number of young 

 bees reared for wintering. 



The discussion brought out the idea that location may 

 make a difference, and that while in Southern California we 

 need to resort to no such measures to get the early bee, in 

 San Francisco, which is more or less windy, and a land of 

 the mist, such feeding might do. 



The ant pest was discust, and the following remedies 

 prescribed : Find the nest and pour into it a tablespoonful 

 of sulphuric acid. It is sure death to all of the denizens. 

 Another remedy was to rake air-slackt lime into the ground 

 all around a hive or other place needing protection. Gaso- 

 line, kerosene, buhac, corrosive sublimate and bisulphide of 

 carbon were also recommended. 



Mr. Brodbeck described his methods of producing both 

 comb and extracted honey. He uses a hive about the same 

 depth as the Danzenbaker hive, and claims that such a hive 

 is easier to manipulate, and will secure as large a yield of 

 honey as any other hive and system of management. Mr. 

 Brodbeck always secures a first-class grade of honey. 



Another paper was read on the great improvements 

 that are sure to come with the development of the honey- 

 industry. If the business would become more certain, with 

 large apiaries and more of them, there is nothing to hinder 

 the introduction of appliances that will greatly lessen the 

 labor in securing the crop. 



The automobile was mentioned as a machine that would 

 become a factor in honey-production. Much interest was 

 manifested in this idea, and many inquiries were made as 

 to where such a machine could be purchast. If there was a 

 $300 machine upon the market adapted to bee-culture it 

 would meet with a large sale. 



At the morning session Mr. Clayton read a paper on 

 " Bee-Keepers' Exchanges — Why ? Why Not ?" 



Mr. Colamore, superintendent of the Forestry Station, 

 at Santa Monica, read a valuable paper on the planting of 

 eucalyptus for honey. The robusta, cornuta alpina (a 

 shrub), melidora, sugar-gum polyanthema.were all good and 

 the last mentioned was extra-good, for it bloomed profusely, 

 and held its bloom for fully two months. The trees are 

 easily grown from seed, and easily transplanted. There is 

 an opportunity to set out thousands of acres of these trees 

 in Southern California. All of the mountain sides now 

 covered with a miscellaneous lot of worthless shrubs could 

 be utilized for this purpose. A planting of large areas to 

 trees would have a beneficial effect upon the climate, and 

 in preserving the watersheds in hundreds of canyons. 



The subject of moving bees came up for consideration. 

 Many had moved bees during the past season to Central 

 California, and others, owing to the continuation of the 

 dry weather, were contemplating the same. It costs about 

 S7.30per ton to move into Central California, ten tons to the 

 car ; between 300 and 400 colonies can be placed in a car. 



The officers of the Association for the past year were 

 re-elected, at the head of which are Pres. Wilkin, and Sec- 

 retary and Treasurer Mclntyre. 



Queenie Jeanette is the title of- a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy 

 of this song. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C O. MILLER, Max-engo, 111. 



(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal ofiBce, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.1 



Moving Bees and Combs. 



1. Can bees be moved % mile in the fall and be cellared 

 with safety ? or would they need a cleansing flight before 

 they were put into the cellar, to insure their wintering well ? 

 If they were allowed a flight would they go back to where 

 they were removed from ? 



2. Will combs that were built last summer on Lang- 

 stroth frames be all right to stand shipping by rail if the 

 frames are fastened securely in the hives ? Wis. 



Answers. — I don't know. I have moved bees 3 miles 

 and put them into the cellar without a flight, and they did 

 not winter as well as others in the same cellar. Others say 

 they have moved bees and put them into the cellar without 

 a flight, and they were none the worse for it. 



Yes, they ought to stand it all right. There mig-ht be 

 an exception in the case of a comb that had never had brood 

 in, was very heavy with honey, without wiring, and poorly 

 fastened at the sides and bottom. Be sure that the frames 

 while in the car run parallel with the railroad track. 



Transferring— Feeding for Pollen, Etc. 



1. I have five colonies of bees in old hives. Will the 

 first week in April be too early to transfer them ? If I do 

 not do so at that time I must wait till the first of June. 



2. Is it best to feed flour or corn-meal for pollen ? 



3. Can one use the Cowan extractor for both the ordi- 

 nary and shallow Hoffman frames ? Colorado. 



Answers. — 1. Unless you have warm weather in the 

 first week of April with bees flying every day and gather- 

 ing stores, it would be better to wait. 



2. I think I should prefer corn-meal to pure wheat flour, 

 but may be mistaken. The little I tried of the flour was 

 not a great success. Better than either, I like corn and oats 

 ground together, of which I have fed many bushels. It is 

 light and gives the bees a good foothold, and when they 

 have gleaned out all the fine parts the balance can be fed to 

 four-footed stock. A nice way to feed it is to have a box 

 perhaps 6 inches deep and as large as a hive-cover. Fill it 

 a fourth or a third full, block up one end 3 inches higher 

 than the other, and when the bees have dug the feed down 

 level, turn the box end for end. 



3. Yes. 



i* . » 



Management for Swar|iiing-Time. 



I have 32 colonies and want to run for comb honey, and 

 can not be at home much of the time in May and June. I 

 have S empty hives that I want to fill with new swarms, and 

 that is all the increase I want. I thought of putting on 

 queen-excluders so the queen could not get out, and then 

 the bees would come back to their old home. Then give 

 them room. Would this plan work, or can you give a better 

 one ? Minnesota. 



Answer. — Your plan will not be likely to suit you. The 

 bees will come back, to be sure, but that will not be the end 

 of it. They will swarm out perhaps every day for several 

 days, and a week or more after the first swarm issues there 

 will be a young queen in the hive, the old one being killed, 

 and then they will be more fierce to swarm than ever. After 

 a time all the young queens but one may be killed, and 

 there being no chance for her to g-et out to mate, you may 

 have a drone-laying queen. In the meantime this large 

 amount of swarming will take place with many if not all 

 of the colonies, making a number of swarms out each day, 

 often at the same time, and after the young queens are out 



