180 



i'EE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



Extra Combs for Extracted Honey. 



Query, No. 37.— What isthet-heapestand 

 best way, all things considered, to obtain ex- 

 tra combs tor producing: extracted honey in 

 an apiary which has previously I'cen run tor 

 comb honey exclusively, and the apiarist hav- 

 ing no surplus combs on hand.— Subscriber. 



Dadant & Son reply : ''Use comb 

 foundation." 



JA3IES Heddon answers thus: 

 " The cheapest method of getthig such 

 combs, that I have tried, is by the use 

 of full frames of comb foundation. 

 Get as many drawn out as you can be- 

 fore the honey-rush conies." 



Dr. J. P. H. Brown replies as fol- 

 lows : " If I desired surplus combs as 

 soon as possible, I should remove 

 combs from the outside of the brood- 

 nest, and fill in \\ith frames of foun- 

 dation, just as soon as the weather 

 would admit of the bees drawing it 

 out." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker says that " the 

 cheapest and best way is to use a sec- 

 tion-case that may also be used with 

 extracting-f rames. " 



Prof. A. J. Cook answers as fol- 

 lows : " Enter into partnerstiip with 

 the bees, and get them to build combs 

 on shares from wired foundation. With 

 plentj' of feed they will never break 

 the contract." 



W. Z. Hutchinson replies ttius: 

 " One year ago I should have said, 

 ' put on an upper story, tlie frames of 

 which are tilled with foundation ; ' 

 now I will say I think ttiat is the best 

 plan. Let us experiment a little more 

 with foundation." 



G. M. DooLiTTLE says : " In such 

 a case as this I think that I should 

 buy foundation, for the reason that if 

 I tried to get comb built in the upper 

 stories, too large a proportion of it 

 would be drone-comb," 



J. E. Pond, Jr., answers thus : 

 " My plan would be to select two or 

 three or more colonies of known comb- 

 building proclivities, give them frames 

 filled with foundation, feed them very 

 liberally on sugar syrup, and keep 

 them at work drawing out the foun- 

 dation until a sufficient number had 

 been completed. For this purpose a 

 cheap quality of sugar can be used, 

 and it will be a means also of profita- 

 bly disposing of unsalable honey." 



G. W. Demaree replies as follows : 

 " The cheapest way to get combs for 

 extracting purposes, is to have them 

 drawn out by the bees, using full 

 sheets of foundation. Wire in the 

 frames is not necessary if a good arti- 

 cle of foundation can be procured, 

 and the combs are to be drawn out in 

 the upper story." 



How to Build a Honey-House. 



Query, No. 38. — lam eonteinplatiu.ii- the 

 building of a honey-housi^ and ^vorkslnlp, in 

 the spring, so I am on the lookout tor the 

 l»est ])laii for SMCha Iniildiiigsiinieient in size 

 for the st(»rage of lixtures used in the a|)iary 

 and the conili honey gathered hy ■.'no uolo- 

 nies. I should prefer a two-story building, 

 if that be considered the most practicable. 

 —Hinsdale, N. Y. 



Prof. A. J. Cook says : " I think 

 that the plan which I give in my Bee- 

 Keepers' Guide is a very good one. I 

 can suggest no better." 



G. M. DooLiTTLE answers as fol- 

 lows : '■ My workshop is lt)x34 feeton 

 the ground and 2 stories high, having 

 14-foot posts. In the southwest cor- 

 ner, below, is partitioned otf a room 

 7x10 feet for a honey-room, in which 1 

 have stored 10,000 lbs. of comb honey 

 at one time. The outside is painted a 

 dark color to draw the heat from the 

 sun, so the room will be very warm to 

 ripen the honey. To go into detail 

 would be too long for this depart- 

 ment." 



Dr. C. C. Miller replies thus : 

 " Make it unnecessarily large and with 

 a floor able to bear great weight. I 

 have one 18x24 feet, and 2 stories high, 

 and if I had no other room it would be 

 too small for an apiary of 200 colonies. 

 The work - room and honey - room 

 should be very close and warm ; the 

 upper story may be a mere shell with 

 a good roof." 



James Heddon says : " Space for- 

 bids going into any detail description 

 of our choice of plans. In my home 

 apiary of 200 colonies (on an average) 

 I have built a 2-story building, 18x30 

 feet, with outside stairs, and a cellar 

 the full size of the house, and 8 feet 

 deep. It cost about $600. I use wire- 

 screen doors, and the windows (large) 

 revolve within wire-screen bays. Bees, 

 mice and ants cannot get in, unless at 

 the doors or windows. I have two 

 other good sized buildings in the 

 apiary. This one is for storage of 

 combs, etc., upstairs, and a honey- 

 house below. No carpentering is done 

 in it. Always build nearly twice as 

 large as you first think youneed." 



H. R. BOARDMAN replies thus : 

 " There is only room in this depart- 

 ment to give a few suggestions in re- 

 gard to building a bee-house. I prefer 

 a one-story house, double-walled, floor 

 overhead on top of the joists, bee- tight, 

 frost-proof and dry ; the ground-floor 

 cemented to exclude mice and ants, 

 and to prevent disturbance from jar- 

 ring ; ventilated from above by means 

 of gable shutters through an air- 

 chamber or room adjoining the bee- 

 room or rooms, and provided with a 

 stove ; windows small and hung on 

 pivots in the center of the sash, to tip 

 out from the bottom ; and double 

 doors for winter and screens for sum- 

 mer, and joists overhead spaced right 

 to hang the surplus combs and frames 

 between them on strips or rabbets 

 nailed to their sides. For 200 colonies 

 I would have a long building with 2 

 bee-rooms and the air-chamber be- 

 tween. One hundred colonies are 

 enough to store in one room. There 

 are .serious objections to having a 



workshop and bee-house combined. 

 The concussion of pounding will seri- 

 ously disturb the bees, though a par- 

 tition wall intervenes; even talking 

 loud in a bee-room will produce a dis- 

 turbance." 



Purifying Beeswax. 



Query, No. 39.— What is the best way to 

 purify beeswax for making thin foundation? 

 — Boyceville. Wis. 



.James Heddon says : " The best 

 of the processes in general use is, I 

 think, to melt the wax and pour it into 

 deep, flaring tin-tanks, packing the 

 tanks to hold the liquid wax for 

 several hours ; then when it cakes the 

 dirt will be at the bottom. Both the 

 boiling and dipping tanks should also 

 be made and manipulated so as to 

 hold back foreign substances." 



W. Z. Hutchinson answers thus : 

 " Allow it to cool slowly over a large 

 body of water." 



G. M. DOOLITTLE replies as follows: 

 " The best plan that I know of, is to 

 melt 10 lbs. of wax in a vessel, after 

 having first put in the same, one pint 

 of strong vinegar, together with one 

 quart ot water. After all is melted, 

 set the vessel from the fire, and wrap 

 it in several thicknesses of blanket or 

 old carpet, so it will cool slowly. By 

 this plan the wax is in agitation while 

 liquid, and all impurities worked to 

 the top or bottom. If strained before 

 putting through this process, there 

 will be nothing but flne dross at the 

 bottom, with nothing on top." 



Brood-Rearing Under the Snow. 



Query, No. 40.— My bees are under the 

 snow yet. On Feb. 9 we had another snow 

 storm, and my hives have been out of sight 

 since Jan. 17. There is no chance for water 

 to run iitto ttiem, and the bottom-boards are 

 cut off even with the hives which are tipped 

 to the front, and ii-inch holes are above the 

 entrances so the bees can get plenty of air. 

 Will they get too warm and start brood-rear- 

 ing ?— Bast Saginaw, Mich., Feb. 16, 1885. 



Prof. A. J. Cook remarks thus : "I 

 never succeeded better in wintering 

 bees than when they were covered 

 just as described. I have never pub- 

 licly recommended this plan, as it is 

 usually better to have the hives in 

 sight ; at least it is more satisfac- 

 tory." 



Dr. C. C. Miller says: "Not 

 likely." 



Dadant & Son answer thus: "Yes, 

 bees can rear brood underthe snow." 



W. Z. Hutchinson replies as fol- 

 lows : " In extremely cold weather, 

 bees are wai-mer under the snow, but 

 in the weather we are likely to have 

 from now on, bees would be warmer 

 out of the snow. I do not think that 

 the snow will start them to brood- 

 rearing." 



J.^.mes Heddon answers as follows: 

 " I should have no fears of the bees 

 getting too warm. Colonies usually 

 commence brood-rearing both out- 

 doors and in-cellars, before this date." 



