114 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



Jul}/ 



instance, it is too large a job for one 

 bee-keeper to attempt to fight adultera- 

 tion of honey, but if he can combine 

 his efforts with that of ten thousand 

 other bee-keepers, all acting in unison, 

 and that organization acting with 

 other associations interested in the 

 subject of pure food, together they may 

 accomplish something. 



As government in this country is 

 constituted, the powers that be are 

 ready to listen to anyone who repre- 

 sents a considerable body of voters, if 

 the said voters "mean business." 



When a politician is asked to sup- 

 port a measure he wants to know how 

 many of his constituents are anxious 

 a Lout it. 



All other trades and professions are 

 organized for mutual help and protec- 

 tion. Bee-keepers should have one or- 

 ganization so strong in numbers and 

 influence that their rights shall be 

 respected. The object of the United 

 States Bee-Keepers' Union is to fill this 

 long felt want. Its purpose is two- 

 fold — to promote legislation helpful to 

 bee-keepers and to act as the guardian 

 of their legal rights. 



Forest City, loAva. 



Some Points in Comb Honey Pro- 

 duction. 



Wr Men fin tlif Ainfiiicitu Bee-Keeper. 





ET us suppose 

 that the har- 

 '^ vest from 

 w hite clover is at 

 'ts beginning. To 

 iich colony 1 would 

 le glad to give a 

 uper filled with 

 )artly drawn combs 

 saved from the fall 

 vv. /. Ill II II I. \ SON. of the previous year. 

 Comli^ ilwi, are fully drawn had bet- 

 ter be leveled down with the Taylor 

 comb leveler. Better still, such combs 

 should have been completed the pre- 

 vious autumn by feeding back. Combs 



not more than two-thirds drawn will 

 be nice and smooth when completed, 

 even if they have not been leveled 

 down before using. If the honey flow 

 opens with a rush the benefit of drawn 

 combs in the first super is not so 

 great, but when it opens gradually, and 

 slowly increases, the bees, especially if 

 Italians, are slow about beginning 

 work in the sections. They will crowd 

 every available space in the brood nest, 

 and perhaps swarm, before going into 

 the supers, unless they are filled with 

 comb. In the latter case they are 

 prompt to go into the sections with the 

 first drop of honey that can be spared 

 from the brood nest. The putting of 

 the honey into the supers relieves the 

 pressure upon the brood nest; allows 

 the more complete filling of the brood 

 nest with brood, and turns the energy 

 of the colony towards the storing of 

 surplus honey instead of towards 

 swarming. A super of partly drawn 

 combs at the opening of the harvest 

 has proved nearly as valuable to me as 

 a super of completed sections. 



So long as a colony does not swarm, 

 I simply add supers upon the tiering- 

 up plan. When the sections in the first 

 super are half or two-thirds full I 

 raise it and put another super beneath 

 it. I always fill sections full of founda- 

 tion, and believe that in my locality, 

 where the flow is usually short but 

 good, that it pays to use foundation in 

 this manner. 



When a colony sends out a swarm, 

 the swarm is hived in a contracted 

 brood nest upon the old stand, the 

 supers transferred to the swarm, and 

 the old colony placed by the side of the 

 swarm for a week, when it is carried to 

 a new location. This plan throws all 

 of the working force into the sections 

 at a critical time — when the white clo- 

 ver or basswood is yielding its best. 

 Little or no surplus is expected from 

 the old colony, unless the swarming has 

 taken place early or the harvest is un- 

 usually prolonged. As a rule I use 



