146 



Tmm m-mm:mi€:mM mmm jQ-'PKifMEr. 



winter confinemeut was injurious, and 

 I still think so, but I must confess that 

 some of ni}' colonies, which have been 

 subjected to a good deal of kicking 

 throughout the winter, have not shown 

 that the}- were particularly injured by 

 it. Still, unless verj' inconvenignt to 

 do so, I think that I should alwaj'S let 

 my bees tly after hauling. 



PUTTING BEES INTO THE CELLAR. 



• 



1 think thi'.t you are a little in error 

 about the time fixed upon by the Chi- 

 cago convention as the best time to 

 put bees into cellars. Some of them 

 said Nov. 25. but I am sure that some 

 placed the date much earlier — some in 

 October. The tendency now-a-days is, 

 I think, toward earlier cellaring. 



I am looking to see a report from 

 those who have put in bees too early. 

 I do not mean by this, that I think 

 many, if indeed any, are taking too 

 early a date, but I am quite sure that 

 bees have heretofore been put in too 

 late, by a large number, and I would 

 like to know just how earlj' is "too 

 early." I hardly think that I shall ever 

 want bees out of the cellar hereafter 

 in November at all, if they are not 

 wintered oiit-doors. 



SEPARATORS — STARTERS IN SECTIONS. 



Although yon iieeded no separators 

 with sections IJ inches wide, you may 

 not succeed so Avell at another time. 

 If honey is coming in very slowlj', I 

 feel pretty sure that you would have 

 some sections bulge out badly. .. 



You seem to reason that the small, 

 V-shaped starter, measuring one inch 

 on each side, gave a large yield per 

 colony, although 1 hardly think that 

 you meant to carry that view. I very 

 much doubt that the small starters in- 

 creased the yield of honey. If you 

 had told us that half the colonies in an 

 apiary liad small starters, the other 

 half full starters, and tliat those with 

 small starters did best, it would have 

 been some evidence in favor of small 

 starters. I suspect that in the cases 

 mentioned, there would not have been 

 a verj- great difference. There was a 

 heavj' flow of honey ; with a light flow 

 of honey, there might have been a dif- 

 ference in favoi- of full starter^ Still, 

 there are fewihings established beyond 

 doubt, and if it can be proven that 

 more honey can be gotten with smaller 

 starters, it will be a gain. 



A set of T tins on top of the sections 

 will prevent the bees from getting be- 

 tween the sections at the* top, biit it 

 will make a line of glue at the edge 

 of the T tin, the same as at the bot- 

 tom. Last year I got , for my supers, 

 to put in place of T tins on. top, pieces 

 of wood separator as long as the T 

 tins, and ] inch wide. This jviH leave 

 some glue at the upper corners of the 



sections, but that is not so bad as 

 having a line half an inch from the 

 corner on the top. 



I should be glad to do without brim- 

 stoning my honey, and I did not do so 

 the last time till forced to it by seeing 

 the little worms in the sections, and 

 under such circumstances I think that 

 you would brimstone. 



We all look on with interest to see 

 what will be the outcome of the mi- 

 gratorj' business. C. C. Miller. 



NOT FOR FUN. 



Keeping Bees for Profit and 

 Pleasure." 



Written, fm- the Prairie Farmer 



BY MRS. L. HARRISON. 



" Good morning, Mrs. Harrison. I 

 called to talk about bees, and ask your 

 advice whether I had better work them 

 for comb or extracted hone}-. Is it 

 true that bees will store double the 

 amount of .extracted honey, that they 

 will of comb, during the same time ? 

 I do not want to keep bees for the fun 

 of it, but for the money there is in 

 tiiem." 



I replied that it is best, as a general 

 thing, to produce both kinds, and be 

 governed by what your market de- 

 mands ; and another thing — some pre- 

 fer handling comb honey to extracted, 

 and vice I'ersa. The Dadants work 

 their apiaries for extracted only, and 

 find a market for tons of it, as their 

 brand of honey is well known, and 

 has gained a reputation for purity 

 and excellence. 



Peoria is not a good market for ex- 

 tracted honey, as it received its death- 

 bl'ow yeai's ago, in the sale of a spuri- 

 ous article ; but it is now being resur- 

 rected slowlj'. I think that a good 

 market might be built up here in a 

 peddling way, by responsible parties ; 

 but many times it becomes an "old 

 settler." This winter! put some ex- 

 tra-nice white extracted honey in bell- 

 glasses, in a flrst-class grocery, and it 

 is there now, as white as lard and as 

 hard. I sell almost all I produce, 

 from the honey-house, to parties who 

 know that I have a reputation to sus- 

 tain, and could not aftbrd to sell a 

 spurious article. 



A man came here recently for some 

 honey for his bab}-, saying, " I did not 

 want any of that stuff in the stores." 

 That "stuli in the stores" is all right, 

 for honey is too cheap to pay any one 

 to adulterate- it, and I do not believe 

 that I could find any that is adulter- 

 ated, in this -market. 



TJiere are seasons when quite a 

 quantity of extracted honey can be 

 produced, when, if comb honey was 



the product sought, there would be a 

 complete failure. The reason is this : 

 Occasionally there will be a day or so 

 when bees will work with a rush, and 

 store nearly every cell, followed by an 

 interim of days, and even weeks, when 

 they will barely make a living. At 

 the time of the blooming of the bass- 

 wood in 1888, the bees had not a cell 

 of honey, only brood. The flow from 

 that source lasted only a daj- or two, 

 passing like a cyclone, but leaving the 

 cells all glistening with nectar. There; 

 was not time for the bees to build 

 comb, as it occurred so suddenly, and 

 the bees had been living on such slen- 

 der rations that they were lean — not 

 fat with wax, as is the case when 

 honey has been coming in freely for • 

 some time. 



The day that the flow of honey from 

 basswood ceased, I vvas completely out 

 of honey, having sold, that morning, 

 the last ounce the honey-house con- 

 tained. So I opened some hives, and 

 removing the outside frames that were 

 free from brood, took them to the ex- 

 tractor, and threw out the hone}-, hav- 

 ing no uncapping to do. I put this 

 new honey in the liot sun, and it 

 quickly thickened and ripened, so I 

 could supply my customers right along. 



By the way, a producer should never 

 be out of honey ; let his customers be- 

 lieve that he, at least, is always able to 

 supply their wants, and he in time will 

 have no lack of customers ; they will 

 hunt him, in lieu of his hunting them. 



It is well, during a continuous flow 

 of honey, especially of clover or bass- 

 wood, to secure all the choice white 

 comb possible. During a continuous 

 flow, I have had comb built, that was 

 so very tender and delicate as to be 

 almost imperceptible. I always let all 

 colonies that are building comb during 

 a flow, continue to do so, and never 

 interfere with them in any way, only 

 seeing that they have storage-room. 

 Where I get extracted honey, is from 

 colonies not building comb, and will 

 not be ready to commence until the 

 close of the flow. Where a colony has 

 swarmed, and has been queenless for 

 some time, their combs will be found 

 to be solid with Iioney. These 1 ex- 

 tract and exchange for others contain- 

 ing larva;, and both are benefited. I 

 always have considered that my ex- 

 tracted honey cost me the most work 

 and ought to bring as much per pound 

 as comb honey, although most bee- 

 keepers think differently, and sell it at 

 wholesale in barrels, cheaply. 



All comb honey that finds a ready 

 sale in a city market; must he in one- 

 pound sections, and both honey and 

 wood must- be of the whitest. The 

 propolis must all be scraj^ed from the 

 se'ctions, and then packed in new 

 crates, with glass in one or both sides. 



