'e^mm Mimmmicifim umm jouRriJiiLr. 



105 



t*^*^»^*^fc< 



''^*^*~* ^*'^* '*'-' 



these will have a large, irregular hole, 

 while others have smaller pioreiiigs 

 down to the regulation " pin-head 

 size." 



I vote for the golden-rod as the 

 " national flower." 



Olean, N. Y. 



PRIZE ESSAY. 



Extracted Honey — One method 

 of lis Produetion, 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY O. P. MILLER. 



I do not know of any better way to 

 write on this subject, than to give my 

 way of producing extracted honey. 



I use tlie Langstroth, 8 and 10 

 framed hive. In the spring I build up 

 colonies as fast as I can, during fruit- 

 bloom, so as to get them in prime con- 

 dition by the time white clover blooms 

 — this I do by supplying the hive with 

 empty worker-comb (kept over from 

 the previous year) as fast as needed, 

 until they are just booming with bees. 



I then put on the surplus hive or 

 super, and put two or three empty 

 combs in super No. 1, and two frames 

 of brood and honey from the brood- 

 chamber, and fill the brood-chamber 

 with empty brood-combs. 



As the brood in super No. 1 hatches 

 out, the bees fill the cells with honey, 

 and also work on the other empty 

 combs, as needed, until the hive is 

 full. As soon as super No. 1 is full of 

 comb, and nearly full of unsealed 

 honey, I lift it oflf, and put in its stead 

 super No. 2, taking three frames from 

 No. 1, and put them into No. 2, with 

 three or four empty frames, as the 

 strength of the colony may indicate ; 

 I also fill up No. 1 again with empty 

 combs, then put No. 1 on top of No. 2, 

 observing this rule — always putting 

 the frames, whether full or empty, in 

 the center of the hive, be it the same 

 super or brood-chamber, that the clus- 

 ter be not broken but continuous from 

 the bottom to the top. 



As soon as the frames of super No. 

 1 are full, and two-thirds sealed over, 

 it is extracted, and immediately put 

 between No. 2 and the brood-chamber; 

 and No, 2 is worked in the same way, 

 leaving the brood-chamber entirely to 

 the queen. What I mean by this is, 

 not extracting from the brood-chamber, 

 as some do. In the meantime, if I am 

 very busy, I put on the third super, 

 and work them as I do Nos. 1 and 2. 



In extracting, the honey is put in an 

 open-headed barrel, covered with 

 screen-wire ; this takes all the pieces 

 of comb and bees out, and keeps out 

 flies and bees, and does not hinder 

 evaporation. The barrel is exposed 

 to the sun and air. The impurities 



arise to the top, and the honey is 

 dravvn out at the bottom of the barrel. 



MiNAGING THE INCKEASE. 



I will now give ray method of in- 

 crease, which, if not directly, is in- 

 directly connected with this way of 

 obtaining extracted honey. I will also 

 state that ray bees did not attempt to 

 swarm more tlian three times during 

 1889, and two of those swarms issued 

 from one hive. Now for the plan of 

 increase : 



There will generally be two or three 

 combs in the centre of the super next 

 to the brood-cliamber, which will be 

 partly tilled with brood ; these I re- 

 move to the nucleus hives, prepared 

 for the purpose, putting three or four 

 frames in a hive, with enough bees to 

 keep the brood warm. This nucleus I 

 build up as fast as possible, so as to 

 have a full colony by the time the fall 

 flow begins, so that they may fill their 

 hive for winter, and they frequently 

 store consideral)le in the super. By 

 this means, I have nearly all the old 

 bees at work during the honej'-flow, as 

 many of the old bees will leave the 

 new, just-formed nucleus hive. 



Now for the results : I began the 

 year of 1889 with 16 colonies, and 

 worked 14 for extracted honey. I in- 

 creased them to 40, took 2,000 pounds 

 of honey, and they have yet an aver- 

 age of at least 25 pounds each. We 

 had a frost in May that killed all the 

 linden bloom, and injured other 

 flowers considerable ; also a very dry- 

 fall, cutting the fall crop ofi' short in 

 September — altogether not making 

 more than about two-thirds of a crop. 



Besides this, I have had a great 

 many combs built, and have consider- 

 able surplus beeswax — enough to keep 

 me in foundation. These last two 

 items cannot be realized in the pro- 

 duction of comb honey. I can sell my 

 honey very readily at 9 and 10 cents 

 per pound — while comb honey sells at 

 10 to 12} cents. 



Glendon, Iowa. 



HIVE-SWARMER. 



Self-Hiving Arrangements and 

 their Originators. 



Written Sor the American Bee Journal 



BY HENKT ALLEY. 



Being interested in ' 'hive-swarmers," 

 I must say that I am much amused at 

 the claims of priority of invention by 

 several who have now come forward 

 to share in the honor of having been 

 first " in the field " with a. swarmer. 



How is it that those who have in- 

 vented these wonderful things, have 

 kept them from the public eye so long? 



Why did lliey not, long ago, bring 

 them out, and not wait for others to 

 do so, and tlien come forward and 

 claim all the lionor of the invention ? 

 Instead of putting their inventions to 

 practical use, after having used the 

 swarmers one year, they cast them 

 aside, never to be brought out again 

 until some one else was found who had 

 abetter device. This coming in at 

 "the eleventh hour," and claiming all 

 the honor and profits, is hardly the 

 thing. 



Some of the claimants for the honor 

 of the invention of the swarmer do not 

 really know what became of their 

 wonderful inventions. They had used 

 them ; hung them up in some out-of- 

 the-way place, and that is all they 

 seem to know about it. O, they were 

 great things — worked finely ! but of 

 no consequence to the bee-keeper till 

 they thought some other person was 

 likely to make something out of it. 



I must say that I admire the disposi- 

 tion of Mr. Stephens (seepage 70). He 

 says, " In the summer of 1888, I in- 

 vented and used the same device (as 

 Mr. Alley's). My tube was made of 

 screen-wire," etc. That is just where 

 the thing is wrong, and is unlike mine. 

 Years ajro I tested the screen-wire 

 business, and found it was not the 

 thing ; it would not work any better in 

 my apiary than it did in Mr. Stephens', 

 aud that is why Mr. S. and I cast it a 

 side. 



Notwithstanding the fact that I do 

 not connect two drone-traps with 

 screen-wire to construct a swarmer ; 

 and notwithstanding the fact that I 

 spent my time in testing the difl^erent 

 materials to use for a passage-way to 

 conduct a queen from one hive to 

 another when a colony of bees swarm, 

 a person now comes forward to claim 

 all the honor of my invention ! 



Considering the fact that Mr. 

 Stephens used his device one season, 

 and having found jt impractical — as 

 impractical it is, if constructed as de- 

 scribed by Mr. S. ; and, also consider- 

 ing the fact that Mr. S. does not give 

 one instance where his swarmer evei* 

 hived a swarm of bees, though he and 

 several well-known and reputable 

 parties watched it, I must say that his 

 claims for an equal division of the 

 honor and profits in my swarmer are 

 quite moderate ! 



Now, if I say that a patent for a 

 swarmer was granted a man more 

 than three years ago, Mr. Stephens 

 may modify his demands made upon 

 me for a dlvison of the spoils. 



Not onlj' has one patent been grant- 

 ed for a swarmer, but another party 

 has had claims in the Patent Oflice 

 over three years, for a patent on 

 another swarmer. This is rather dis- 

 couraging news to all those who claim 



