THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



309 



Explanatory — The figures before the 

 names indicate the number of years that the 

 person has kept bees. Those after, show 

 the number of colonies the writer had in tlie 

 previous spring- and fall, or fall and sprinfr, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near the centre of the State named: 

 i north of the centre ; 9 south ; O east ; 

 •Owest; and this 6 northeast; N3 northwest; 

 o^ southeast; and ? southwest of the centre 

 of the State mentioned. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



IJse of Comb Foundation. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



Our early teachings were that from 

 18 to 2.5 pounds of honey must be con- 

 sumed by the bees to enable them to 

 produce one pound of wax, or virgin 

 comb. I never believed that it took 

 so much honey, but I could not dis- 

 pute it, because the authorities said 

 so, and I had made no tests ; and so 

 we all stood by those figures. 



When comb foundation was ushered 

 in, it was found to be a good thing, 

 an economical thing, and among 

 others of the reasons why, was the 

 great amount of honey saved by its 

 use. Practical experience has con- 

 vinced honey-producers that about 

 one-half of the above-mentioned 

 amount of honey is all that the bees 

 require to build one pound of comb. 

 It has also proven true that with 

 some varieties of comb foundation, 

 and qualities of wax of which comb 

 foundation may be made, that bees 

 will sometimes fail to utilize the 

 comb foundation given them, and 

 merely taking it for a base, build 

 upon that base. 



When honev is at a very low price, 

 some bee-keepers begin to inquire 

 about the profit and loss in using 

 comb foundation. The mind, like 

 the body of man, seems to be a 

 bundle of actions and re-actions, and 

 let the claims of anything once over- 

 reach the truth, and many will think 

 the whole claim based upon fiction. 

 At one time many thought comb 

 foundation to be intrinsically worth 

 $5 per pound ; then $2 per pound ; 

 and now the question is being asked, 

 " Is it wise to invest in it at 50 cents 

 per pound i"' Having used possibly 

 10,000 pounds of all kinds of comb 

 foundation, from that made by the 

 first mill to the almost perfect comb 

 foundation of to-day, I will give my 

 opinion on this question. 



All know the present price of honey 

 —the ultimatum of our business. One 

 of the largest honey-producers in 

 America, and a man who stands high 

 on the Board of Trade, and whose 

 judgment need get behind that of no 

 other bee-keeper in this country, 

 cheers me on with the statement 

 that he believes that the next twenty 

 years will pay a wholesale net-price 



of 16 cents per ponnd for prime comb 

 honey. Tliis will put extracted at H 

 to 9 cents per pound. Taking this for 

 a basis, what is comb foundation 

 worth to the honey-producer to use 

 in full sheets in the brood-frames and 

 sections y What is its value in the 

 brood-frames as a saving of material, 

 time and labor ? Also as a perfect 

 guide not only as to the straightness 

 of the comb, but the kind of cells 

 that such comb shall possess ? I must 

 say, certainly much more than the 

 price of to-day. 



Nearly, or quite all of those who 

 are doubting the economy and com- 

 fort in the use of comb foundation are 

 unwilling to give it up for surplus 

 honey. I say so, too. I would use it, 

 there, if it cost $1 per pound, and al- 

 ways in full sheets. I believe that 

 we are making the mistake of using 

 it too thin in the surplus boxes, and 

 too heavy in the brood-frames. This 

 arises from two fears — " fish-bone " 

 and wires. For three years I used 

 full sheets of comb foundation in 

 surplus boxes, of the weight that is 

 now used for brood-frames. It was 

 before comb foundation was made of 

 different weights for different pur- 

 poses. It averaged about 4 to 5 square 

 feet to the pound, and during those 

 three years no person, except my as- 

 sistant and visiting advanced bee- 

 keepers, ever saw comb foundation in 

 my yard. Xot a person in this county 

 would have known what was meant, 

 had the words comb foundation been 

 mentioned. Only one person in three 

 years— one among thousands consum- 

 ing my honey— ever signified anvthing 

 uncommon regarding the combs, so 

 far as ever came to my knowledge. 

 Hundreds praised the honey. Does 

 not the " fish-bone " scare come from 

 the same source as the adulteration 

 scare — from the bee-keepers them- 

 selves ? 



I much prefer to have comb founda- 

 tion no lighter than 8 to 9 square feet 

 to the pound, and I am not sure that 

 it vvould not pay well to make and use 

 it heavier. Regarding comb founda- 

 tion for the brood-frames : I believe 

 that wax has been lost by making it 

 so heavy as 4 square feet to the pound, 

 which I believe has been done in 

 many cases to bolster up the claim 

 that wires were not needed in brood- 

 frames. Last year I experimented 

 some regarding the most economical 

 weight to make comb foundation for 

 the brood-frames, and I feel confident 

 that foundation from (i to 8 square 

 feet to the pound, used in full sheets 

 in wired frames, is indicative of wis- 

 dom and economy. 



For my own part, I never expect to 

 place a brood or surplus frame with 

 my bees until I fill it completely with 

 comb foundation. I can vividly re- 

 member the modus operandi audits re- 

 sults when managing bees without 

 comb foundation ; next with comb 

 foundation as guides only, and much 

 of it of poor quality ; and then of the 

 several years that we have used it in 

 full sheets, first without wires, and 

 then with wires, and it is my firm 

 conviction that any who may now be 

 doubting its use and economy, will 

 finally use it thus, after passing 



through the experimental period and 

 learning just how to arrange all the 

 minor conditions. 

 Dowagiac, p Mich. 



Read at the liee-Keepers' ConpresB. 



HoneyProduction of North Carolina. 



AniiOTT L. .SWINSON. 



The improved methods of apicul- 

 ture are but little known or practiced 

 in our State. There are but tew prac- 

 tical apiarists— not one to each county 

 throughout the State, there being 95 

 counties, covering an area of 48,.580 

 square miles. In this territory there 

 are, approximately, 47,500 colonies of 

 bees ; of this number there are pos- 

 sibly 2,000 in movable-frame hives in 

 the hands of young bee-keepers ; and 

 of the number mentioned tliere are 

 probably 2.50 colonies of pure Italian 

 bees, 1,000 colonies of hybrids, and 

 the remainder are our common black 

 or German bees kept m the old style 

 " gums " and box-hives. 



There is annually produced and sold 

 at least 50,000 pounds of beeswax at 

 an average price of 20 cents per 

 pound, amounting to $10,000. She 

 produces an average of 5 pounds of 

 honey per colony, equal to 237,.500 

 pounds in all, which is sold at an 

 average price of 8 cents per pound, or 

 $19,000. The total value of beeswax 

 and honey produced annually, is $29,- 

 000. The average price paid for a 

 colony of bees in a ''gnm" or box- 

 hive is $I..50 each; the average in- 

 crease is 40 per cent. 



Bees need no protection during 

 winter on the summer stands. Those 

 kept here (Wayne county) in movable- 

 frame hives produce, on an average, 

 •50 pounds of comb honey. They would 

 do much better in the Eastern or 

 Western parts of the State, as the 

 bee-range is better. There is no real 

 failure of honey-flow the year round 

 in my section of the State. I think 

 that we can safely count on 30 pounds 

 of surplus comb honey per colony, one 

 year with another, when handled by 

 a practical apiarist. Our main honey- 

 flow is during May, wlien the re- 

 sources are inexhaustible from poplar, 

 black-gum, holly, low-bush, huckle- 

 berry, and gallberry, with which the 

 eastern part of the State abounds. 

 Bees breed all through the winter, and 

 take a flight one day in nearly every 

 week. Queens may be bred and fer- 

 tilized in April anci on to Nov. 1. 

 Goldsboro,© N. C. 



For the American Bee Journal* 



Linwood Convention. 



The Linwood Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation met at Rock Elm, Wis., on 

 May 4, 1885. After being called to 

 order, and the usual routine of busi- 

 ness was finished, considerable time 

 was spent in perfecting the organiza- 

 tion ; and a new constitution and new 

 by-laws were adopted. 



I]ach bee-keeper present was called 

 upon to give his method of wintering 

 bees, and nearly all wintered their 

 bees in cellars. All agreed that out- 



