308 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



Feeding Back Extracted Honey. 



Query, No. 04.— Docs it pay to teed back 

 extracted honey to queenle.is colonies for 

 the purpose of ha\'ing them store it in the 

 eections ?— A. O. C. 



Prof. A. J. Cook remarks thus : 

 "Not generally; some may make a 

 success of this feeding back." 



G-. W. Demakee replies as follows : 

 " ' Feeding back,' in my opinion, will 

 never pay, except, perhaps, to linish 

 up sections." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker remarks thus : 

 " Probably not, unless it is to get 

 partly-filled sections completed." 



G. M. DooLiTTLE replies as follows: 

 " Why say ' queenless colonies V ' I 

 did not know that such were used for 

 that purpose. I have failed to make 

 ' feeding back ' profitable." 



JA3IES llEDDON says: "I should 

 say no. It is much better that colo- 

 nies used for ' feeding back ' purposes 

 are not queenless." 



Laying-Capacity of a Good ftueen. 



Query, No. 6.5.— Messrs. Boardman. Mil- 

 ler. Cook, Hutchinson and Heddon unani- 

 mously agree, on page 196, that 8 Langstroth 

 frames are sutlicient for the brood-chamber 

 of a strong- colony; Mr. Doolittle even re- 

 duces the number to 7. An S-frame Langs- 

 troth hive (standard size) if entirely occu- 

 pied by worker-comb, contains 1,1U« square 

 inches of comb, or 58,400 cells. From this 

 we must deduct at least 10 per cent, of the 

 space for the usual supply of honey and pol- 

 len, leaving I52,.")t)0 cells. Allowing 21 days 

 for the bee to hatch and one day forthe bees 

 to fl.\ the cell and for the gueen to find it 

 again, we have an average of a little less 

 than 2.400 cells for the queen to till per day, 

 and with Mr. Doolittle's 7 frames we have a 

 trifle over 2,100 cells. Nt)w. I wish to ask 

 this question: Do Messrs. Hoaidmun, Mil- 

 ler, Cook, Hutchinson am] Heddon, consider 

 2.400 eggs the utmost daily laying-cupacity 

 of the queen of a strong colony? and does 

 Mr. Doolittle consiilcr '-'.KiO cells suHicient ? 

 ordothev all think that there is not 10 per 

 cent, of the space occupied by honey, pollen, 

 or defects, or passages in the combs ? Or do 

 they not care whether the queen can lay to 

 her utmost capacity in the breeding season ? 

 I ask these questions because many besides 

 myself consider even the 10 frames in a 

 Langstroth hive, as hardly sufficient for the 

 laying-capacity of the best queens.— Critic. 



G. M. Doolittle says : " If a col- 

 ony having a very prolific queen is 

 given ."0 Langstroth frames, using 

 but S to start with, and adding 2 or 3 

 until the SO are all in, it will he found 

 ttiat such a queen will lay from .5.000 

 to 6,000 eggs daily and die of old age, 

 or e.xhaustion, when but 18 to 24 

 months old ; while with a suiall brood 

 chamber, she will give as good results 

 in comb honey and live for 4 or 5 

 years. Besides, all queens are not 

 alike prolific, so I u.se a brood-cham- 

 ber so small that all queens will keep 

 it filled with brood." 



W. Z. IIcTciiiNsoN remarks thus: 

 '■ I do not consider 2,400 eggs the ut- 

 most daily laying-capacity of a queen ; 

 but, instead of uncapping honey. 



spreading the brood-nest, practicing 

 stimulative feeding, etc., I simply re- 

 duce the size of the brood-nest to such 

 an extent that an ordinary queen will 

 keep it full of brood without any 

 ' horse - whipping.' Queens, as they 

 are ordinarily produced in an apiary 

 run for honey, cost nothing ; combs 

 and hives do. Why not have a sufD- 

 cieut number of queens to keep all of 

 the combs filled with brood, without 

 the extra work of manipulation that is 

 required to induce an ordinary queen 

 to keep 10 coDibs full? The capacity 

 of the brood-nest should rather be 

 below than above the capacity of the 

 average queen. Unless this is the 

 case, the outside combs are often dead 

 capital." 



James Heddon answers : " Who 

 cares if a queen can lay 5,000 eggs 

 daily during a certain period V What 

 is the price or worth of that kind of 

 eggs V Queens cost almost nothing, 

 compared with combs and fixtures. 

 The matter is not to always keep all 

 queens employed, but just the reverse 

 — always keep all combs and other 

 capital employed. A hive that is 

 large enough to always keep the fer- 

 tility of the queen supplied with room, 

 will have too much capital lying idle 

 a large share of the year, and be a 

 bungling hive at that. If I made no 

 error. I had a German queen whose 

 fertility reached a little over 4,000 

 eggs daily, for a short period. But 

 what of "this V It is the quality of 

 bees from all our queens, and not the 

 quality from any one queen, that we 

 are seeking. Bees are valuable ; eggs 

 are not. Sometimes it costs more to 

 rear bees from eggs than the bees are 

 worth." 



Prof. A. J. Cook remarks thus : 

 " I think and know by actual observa- 

 tion, that a queen may lay over 3,000 

 eggs per day ; but I think that 2,400 

 would be a good maximum average. 

 Bain, cold, disturbance— many things 

 retard the activity in the hive and of 

 the queen. Experience seems to show 

 me that for comb honey, 8 frames 

 for Langstroth hive is best. This 

 keeps the frames full of brood and 

 puts honey into the sections." 



Shaded Bees and Swarming. 



Query, No. 66.— Will bees that are shel- 

 tered from the sun's rays swarm as early as 

 those not so shaded ?— J. H. A. 



W. Z. Hutchinson replies thus: 



"No." 



Jajies Heddon replies as follows : 

 " Not as a rule, here." 



Prof. A. J. Cook answers thus: 

 " Very likely not. Much sun and 

 warmth in the spring promotes rapid 

 breeding, and so induces early swarm- 

 ing." 



G. M. Doolittle says : " Not as a 

 rule ; especially if the shade is from 

 some densely-lpaved tree." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker replies thus: 

 "No; but the size of the brood- 

 chamiier and the surplus apartment, 

 and the amount of ventilation, has 

 more to do with it than the sun's 

 rays." 



G. W. Demaree answers : "So far 

 as theory goes, they will not ; but the 

 facts show that bees go by no 'rule' 

 when it comes to swarming. If yon 

 want increase badly, your bees will 

 most likely tarry in the sun or in the 

 shade ; but if you have as many bees 

 as you want, they will begin to swarm 

 before breakfast, and swarm late and 

 early." 



Honey and Beeswax Market. 



Office of the American Bee Journal, i 

 Monday, 10 a. m.. May 18, 1885. ( 



The following are the latest quota- 

 tions for honey and beeswax received 

 up to this hour : 



CHICAGO. 



HONE v.— Demand is light and receipts are also 

 light. Prices range from 10@I5c.forbestRradesof 

 comb honey, and for extracted, 5<§;7c. 



BEESW AX.— Beat crade weak at 28c. 



R. A. BURNETT. IHl South Water St. 



BOSTON; 



HONEY.— We quote the following prices : Fancy 

 white comb in 1-Ib. sections, ]e(§iiyc. : the same in 

 •2-\h. sections, ir.(<iIHc: fancy white raUfornia2-lb8., 

 12((tl4c. Extracted weak, 6(3,80. Sales very slow. 



BBBSWAX.-32 els. per lb. 



Blake & hipley. 57 Chatham Street. 



NEW rOKK. 



HONEY— Present sales of comb honey are very 

 slow, and owing to the lateness of the season, we 

 do not anticipate any change in prices until the 

 new crop commences to arrive. We quote at 

 present as follows: Fancy white clover in 1-lb. 

 sections, 14^1.'>c; fair to good white clover in lib. 

 sections. 12(gjl3c; fancy wliite clover in 12-lb. sec- 

 tions, 13@14c: fair to good white clover in -J-lb. 

 sections, 11@ 113c; lancy buckwheat in 1 -lb. sections, 

 tK^Uic; fancy buckwheat in 2-lb. sections, 7(s8c. 

 ( trdinarv grades, no sale. Extracted white clover, 

 7@8c: extracted buckwheat, <5taG!.cc. 



BEBSWAX-Prime yellow. 32033C. 



MCCAUL & HILDKETH BROS., 34 HudSOD St. 



CINCINNATI. 



HONEY— Nothing new has transpired in the 

 market. Demand has improved for good qualities 

 of extracted honey, but the large stock on the 

 market keeps prices low. It brings 5@9c on arrival. 



BEESAVAX— It is in good demand and brings 

 ■j6@3uc on arrival. 



C. F. MUTH. Freeman & Central Ave. 



BAN FRANCISCO. 



HONEY— Nothing is doing on export account, 

 and very little local trading. There is considera- 

 ble honey still on the market, but stocks do not 

 include much of strictly choice quality. White to 

 extra wliite comb, .swnc; dark to good, 4(3i7c : ex- 

 tracted, choice to extra white, 4^(s5!4c; amber 

 colored. 4V4(s;4^c. 



BEES WAX-yuotable at ■23S25C— wholesale. ' 

 O. B. S.M1TH He Co., 423 Front Street. 



ST. LOUIS. 



HONEY — Steady; demand and supply both 

 small. Comb, 12(sil4c per lb., and strained and ex- 

 tracted r>H(5*t;c. 



BEESWAX- Firm at 32@32>^c. for choice. 



W. T. ANPKKSON Ik. CO.. 104 N. 3d Street 



CLEVELAND. 



HONEY— Since our last report there has been a 

 little better demand for lioney. and some sales 

 have been made at l3Hfe)I4c for best white honey 

 in 1 -lb. sections. Second quality is still very dull 

 at !2@13c. Kitracted is not salable at any price la 

 our market. 



BEESWAX.-Scarce at 28®30. 



A. C. KKNDKL. 115 Ontario Street. 



KANSAS CITY. 

 HONEY— Demand for choice white comb in ^. 

 1 and 2-lb. sections is good, and pricesfairly main- 

 tained. Half pound sections, irj(<(jl6c; l-lb , l3«u 

 14c; 2-lb., lOfti-llc. Extracted slow at .--.©70. We 

 could sell some 1.^-lh. sections of comb honey and 

 a few mtire nice wliite l-lb. sections. 

 BEESWAX -25(a3iic., according to quality. 

 CLEMONS.CLOON & CO., cor. 4th & Walnut. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 



HONEY- We quote comb honey in 2 lb. sectiona 

 13@i4c; extracted, «Hc. 



Geo. W. Meade & Co.. 213 Market. 



