194 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Desirable Combs— How Secured. 



READ BEFORE THE MICH. CONVENTION. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Oentlemen: 

 Though this subject is not one of my 

 choice, I will give my views upon it, form- 

 ed by nine years of experience and observa- 

 tion. I shall speak of methods practical, 

 rather than possible. 



For desirable combs for brooding pur- 

 poses, I know of none so good as bee's 

 honey-comb. I know of no better way to 

 get them built than to put honey bees into a 

 cavity or empty box in times of a yield of 

 nectar. Why smile at the statement, be- 

 cause it is old ? If novices go on in then- 

 wild career of artificial bee-keeping, the 

 above method will soon be patentable. If 

 you want all worker comb in the brood 

 chamber, that want will probably not be 

 gratified. We can ta-ke two hives that are 

 apart of each kind of comb, and by assort- 

 ing them get all the drone comb in one 

 while we will have the other complete with 

 worker comb; but on a later examination 

 you will find the corners and perhaps larger 

 parts of some of these worker combs 

 changed to drone-sized cells. We cannot 

 overthrow nature; but we can hedge it 

 about sometimes to our advantage. Differ- 

 ent colonies act differently in regard to this 

 matter, of fine and coarse cell building, and 

 perhaps we will do well to try to bring all 

 colonies up to the naturail maximum point 

 of worker-comb building. This I find I can 

 do to so great an extent by the proper con- 

 struction of the hive, that any farther man- 

 ipulation to gain this point is impracticable 

 and time unwisely spent. 



Further, I doubt very much if it would be 

 wise to keep a single colony entirely devoid 

 of drone comb. I think I have noticed that 

 stocks which contained a fair amount of 

 drones proved more profitable than either 

 those that had next to none or a super- 

 abundance, other things being equal. 



There are three or four important points 

 in the construction of the hive, all bearing 

 largely upon this point, but too complicated 

 to describe on paper, unless in a special 

 paper on hives. None are patented, how- 

 ever. 



In regard to store combs in the boxes, if 

 the bees are guided by the right kind of 

 wooden guides, properly spaced, and a 

 honey-board be used, we will find mostly 

 cheap, choice store combs full of honey and 

 free from brood and bee-bread. That is if 

 we find anything in the boxes. 



Before closing I wish to mention a sub- 

 ject that seems to be soniewhat neglected, 

 and one which seems to me to claim the im- 

 mediate attention of advanced apiarists. I 

 refer to the patent hive peddling that is 

 going on in different parts of the State. I 

 cannot but look upon the vending of patents 

 on hives of to-day, as a decidedly wrong 

 practice. Let our association discuss this 

 point, and let it be the duty of the members 

 as a whole, and as individuals at home, to 

 post bee owners in their localities in regard 

 to this matter. I have given away hours of 

 time, dollars worth of stamps, and more or 

 less of wood and nails, in this cause, and 

 am willing to continue doing so. I intend 

 to put an article on this subject into our 

 county paper, if the editor is willing to give 

 it space. How many of you will do like- 

 wise ? James Heddon. 



A Woman's Experience. 



BEAD BEFORE THE MICH. ASSOCIATION. 



Some years ago there seemed little else 

 for the average woman to do, in the vpay of 

 self-support, aside from music, teaching, 

 sewing, and household employments, and 

 the few who ventured beyond these were 

 considered at least " strong-minded," very 

 likely "masculine." The question of wo- 

 man's rights is no longer prominently 

 before the public, but whatever one's views 

 may be. or may have been upon the subject, 

 its agitation has undoubtedly done good, 

 leading women to consider her own abili- 

 ties, and awakening her to the realization 

 that whatever other rights were denied her, 

 there were fields of remunerative labor open 

 to her, hitherto unrecognized. These, con- 

 sidering the barriers of custom, she has not 

 been slow to occupy, but there are still 

 others given up to tlie monoply of men, to 

 which she is well adapted, and which in the 

 progress of woman's or human rights must 

 inevitably be shared with her. 



Bee-keeping, for women, is of compara- 

 tively recent date, and, judging from the 

 interest manifested, is attracting a degi'ee 

 of attention hitherto unknown. " Will it 

 pay ?" is a practical question often asked 

 of me, but one to which I can reply with no 

 more assurance than if it pertained to the 

 keeping of a boarding-house. So much de- 

 pends upon knowledge of the business and 

 management that in either case it may or 

 may not be a success. But I can say that 

 having tried both, I give bee-keeping the 

 preference, as more profitable, healthful, 

 independent and enjoyable. 



Like other occupations, it has its draw- 

 backs. The apiarist may lose his bees in 

 various ways, or the flowers may. fail in 

 their contribution of honey; but the liabili- 

 ties are no greater than that the farmer may 

 fail of success through drought or flood, or 

 the boarding-house keeper through inipaid 

 boarders' bills or wastefulness of servants. 

 Perseverance and general good manage- 

 ment will in time overcome such occasional 

 obstacles. Evidently we can point to no 

 sure way of success unless it be to that of 

 the Frenchman who said "the way to be 

 successful is to succeed." The 



PROFITS OF THE APIART 



seem to me as sure as those of most employ- 

 ments for women, and much greater. I 

 judge so from observation, and from my 

 own experience, which I have been request- 

 ed to give. 



Three years ago last fall I bought two 

 colonies of Italian bees of Prof. Cook, and 

 under his instructions wintered them out- 

 of-doors successfully. The year following 

 they increased to five large colonies, and 

 my account for the first year is as follows: 

 .Spring of 1874— Dr. 



To 3 colonies of Italian bees @, S12 $ 34.00 



Interest on the same ffi 10 ^ cent 3.40 



3 hives complete ® $2.50 7.50 



Total $ 33.90 



Fall of 1874— Cr. 



By 5 colonies of bees @ |10. $50.00 



315 lbs. comb honey @ 35c 5.3.75 



185 lbs. extracted houey @ 18c 33.30 



Total Cr $1.37.05 



Total Dr 33.90 



Balance of credit $103.15 



