382 



T'Ml^ fEME-RICMH WMM J&UmnmJU, 



the bees ooulil uiiikft an eiitrunee 

 through it. 



" Which is tlie most profitable race 

 of bees P" 



Mr. Maiuhester said that he wonUl 

 rather haiiille the Italians, as they 

 were more <niiet, and not so liable to 

 sting as the blacks. 



Mr. Coggshall thinks that the Ital- 

 ians niiglit l)e better in a poor season ; 

 he had, with an assistant, clii)pcd the 

 wings of 82 queens in si.x hours, and 

 they were black bees, at that. 



" What is best to do with ([ueenless 

 colonies in the spring ?" 



Mr. ("oggshall gives each a frame of 

 brood, and lets them rear a que(!n. 



Mr. Morton tliinks that it would be 

 best to keej) them along by giving a 

 frame of brood once in awhile, and 

 give them a queen-cell from a first 

 swarm. 



" How shall I keep the grass down 

 in front of the hives P" 



Mr. Coggshall used sawdust with 

 good results ; others had used salt. 



The convention then adjourned till 

 sometime in August, when tlie Asso- 

 ciation will hold its annual basket 

 picnic at the Fhu-al Trout Park, in 

 Cortland, N. Y. 



M. H. Fairbanks, Sec. 



BRACE-COMBS. 



Biirr-Conil>!< aiul Il<»\v lo Pre- 

 vriil Tlieiii. 



Read at the Oxford, Ont, Convention 



BY S. T. PETTIT. 



In all improperly constructed occu- 

 pied hives, may be found, in addition 

 to the orthodox brood and drone 

 combs, two other kinds, viz: brace- 

 combs and burr-combs. 



Now, to get rid of, or, more i)rop- 

 erly, to prevent the building of the 

 troublesome brace and burr combs, it 

 would be well to inquire into the cause 

 of their construction, or into the con- 

 ditions most favorable to their con- 

 struction, or, in otlier words, why tliey 

 are built. 



The brace-comb (if it may be called 

 aconil)) is intended for a very ditlcr(Mit 

 purpose from that of the burr-comb ; 

 the former is constructed in position 

 for just wlial its name implies, abrdcc, 

 and tlic latter, ultimately, for store 

 combs. 



If during a honej'-flow some sealed 

 honey be i)laced a little closer togetlicr 

 than the bees placed it, they become 

 alarmed, and to prevent more crowd- 

 ing, and to keep things in position, 

 they go to work and build brncc-combs 

 in the (now) too small bee-spaces. 



Upon examination, brace-combs will 

 be found to be studs of hard wax with. 



in some cases, a touch of propolis pos- 

 sessing no small degree of resisting 

 power. Brace-combs will usually, 

 also, be built in all undersized bee- 

 spaces, so the cause of their presence 

 in almost all cases is quite apparent. 



With regard to burr-combs, if we 

 investigate the matter, we will dis- 

 cover the reason why the wayward 

 little workers do so persistently ])ersist 

 in building them. We all know, I 

 ))resume, that bees are severe econo- 

 mists, and most exacting in that line — 

 they economize heat, time, and every- 

 thing pertaining to their welfare — 

 every available ])article of sweets, and 

 everything that can be utilized by 

 them, is eagerly gathered and stored ; 

 but in notliing are they more econo- 

 mical than in tlie space enclosed with- 

 in the walls of their domicile ; it is 

 their inherent nature to occupy and 

 utilize every space larger than a bee- 

 space within their homes — especially 

 so is this the case at, or near, tlie top 

 of the brood-chamber ; and now, just 

 at this point, I would ask, is not the 

 cause of the ))resence of burr-combs 

 apparent ? And does not the remedy 

 suggest itself ? 



My experience, extending over ipiite 

 a number of years, says that the cure 

 is at onr finger ends ; is easily under- 

 stood, is unpatented, and may be had 

 for the taking — simply ailjust all the 

 interior parts of the hive so that a 

 proper bee-space is maintained through- 

 out, and the goal is reached — the joy 

 is yours ; for under these conditions 

 there is neither room for burr-combs, 

 nor supposeil necessity for brace- 

 combs, and but- very few of either 

 kind will be built. 



Frames are spaced by ditt'erent 

 parties all the way from 1] inches to 

 \l inches fro.m center to center ; so it 

 will easily be seen that in order to 

 form proper bee-spaces, top-bars must 

 be of ditl'erent widths, according to 

 the spacing practiced. 



Top-bars J "f an inch square, and 

 spaced Ijj inches from center to center, 

 will form spaces J-incli by |-inch, and 

 he who expects that bees will not 

 economize such roomy spaces at the 

 top of the brood-chamber, has failed 

 to note one viu-y important diaracter- 

 istic in bee-nature, and will simply be 

 disappointed ; like noxious weeds, his 

 crop of burr-combs will grow, until 

 these spaces are nearly full, and super 

 ventilation well-nigh choked oft". 



But what about deep top-bars ? 

 Will one inch or so of depth prevent 

 burr-combs between the top-bar and 

 the super i' Well, now, I am aware 

 that this point should ' be apjiroached 

 cliai'ily ; so many experienced bee- 

 keepers regard depth of the top-bar as 

 having great virtue in that line, but 

 witli all due respect for the opinions 



of others, I will frankly state that after 

 G or 8 years of experience with thicli 

 and thin top-bars, I am pretty well 

 convinced that the virtue is not in tlie 

 depth of the top-bar, but in correct 

 spacing. Although my real frame has- 

 a top-bar about J inch thick, my ideal 

 frame has one only J of an inch in 

 depth, and of the necessary width tO' 

 form a correct bee-space. 



Most bee-keepers, I believe, regard 

 five-sixteenths of an inch as the bee- 

 space ; well, I will not quarrel with 

 that, for it is worthy of notice that the 

 bees themselves, as yet, are not fully 

 agreed as to what a jiroper bee-space 

 should be ; but I would add that it 

 must not be even a shade more than 

 five-sixteenths of an inch — anywhere 

 between nine thirty-seconds and five- 

 sixteenths will do ; but between the 

 top-bars and the supers nine thirty- 

 seconds of an inch has mj' decided 

 preference. The top half of the end- 

 bars should be of the same width as 

 the top-bars, and the lower half 

 tapered down to the width of the bot- 

 tom-bar. The end-bars of all my 

 frames are all so matle now. 



In all fairness, it should be admitted 

 that some colonies seem to have a 

 peculiar fondness for burr-combs, and, 

 under almost any conditions, some 

 embryons will appear in the hives of 

 such bees. 



Belmont, Ont. 



TEXAS. 



Report of tlic State Bee>Kcc|>> 

 crs' ConvfiiUon. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY J. N. HUNTER. 



The Texas State Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation held its 12th annual meeting iu 

 Greenville, Texas, on May 7 and 8, 

 1890, about 40 bee-keepers attending. 



The convention was called to order 

 by President W. R. Graham, and 

 prayer was ofl'ered by Dr. W. K. 

 Marshall, of Marshall, Tex. The read- 

 ing of the minutes of the last annual 

 meeting was dispensed with. 



It was found, upon inquiiy, that 

 those present, had about 800 colonies- 

 of bees. Then questions were asked 

 to ascertain as nearly as possible the 

 average amount of honey obtained per 

 colony the last season, and it was 

 found to be 30 pounds — a very poor 

 showing for hi'ie. It was reported 

 that all the bees owned by the mem- 

 bers liatl wintered well ; but unfavor- 

 able reports were made as to the 

 spring condition of bees, starvation 

 seeming generally to prevail amongst 

 them ; at present, however, signs of 

 prosperity were being shown. 



