794 



Itmm fEMMMICME* BE® JQilSKHSILr. 



Where screws are used at each end 

 andtop.it would allow rain to blow in at 

 the square joint ( which sometimes 

 does occur), then the vvide frames 

 will swell and be apt to make some- 

 thing give. Therefore. I prefer a 

 wooden wedge in the center of the 

 follower ; this will hold tightly, and 

 the wedge will slightly spring the 

 follower at the center, and if rain 

 should get in at either end, it will 

 give and do no harm to the case. 



This wedge is sure to keep open a 

 bee-space between the follower and 

 case, which I consider of much im- 

 portance. Behind the follower is 

 formed a passage-way for the bees to 

 pass from the hive wheie the queen is, 

 to the story from whicli the swarm 

 first issued. 



The oil-cloth spoken of on page KiO, 

 may now form a complete inner cover 

 between the bees and the brood-comb 

 above, thus allowing no travel over 

 any part of the section-honey, but 

 over a space formed for that purpose. 

 The operator must exercise a liberal 

 amount of judgment in regard to the 

 putting on of section cases. When 

 storiticd, I generally put on the uutin- 

 ished sections that were on the old 

 colony before swarming, and one 

 empty case of sections beneath the 

 former, and if I think best, still 

 another. 



Now. then, the reader will have an 

 idea of the hive I use. It is in every 

 way interchangeable, but not reversi- 

 ble. That I may have full control of 

 the bees is the point that I most 

 earnestly hope to accomplish, and trust 

 that the reader will be benefitted from 

 what I have written. 



I do not know that my plan is 

 altogether new. but when I caught a 

 glimpse of it, from such men as G. L. 

 Tinker. Jas. Heddon and others I might 

 mention. I was to some extent filled 

 with enthusiasm, which still stays with 

 me. By this plan the bees are exempt 

 from the swarming fever, a thing so 

 desirable in producing comb-honey. 



If one does not wish to use. or have. 

 a peforated wood -zinc honey-board, 

 and have it so arranged, it is not 

 necessai'y. A strip of peforated zinc 

 can be tacked on tlie full length of the 

 case, one inch wide, along the under 

 side of the same, and extend through 

 under the follower-board, thus fasten- 

 ing the queen below. 



This last idea has just suggested 

 itself to my mind, but the query is. 

 whether the queen may not try to 

 work her way through the strip of 

 zinc, and thus loiter around the sec- 

 tions ? Or, will the bees have any 

 influence, thi'ough the oil-cloth above 

 the sections, to cau.se her to lay eggs 

 there ? I rather think not. Let us 

 liear from others on this important 



point. However. I do not consider 

 the peforations anj' hindrance to the 

 prosperity of the bees. 

 Welton, Iowa. 



INTERNATIONAL. 



Report of the Business, Speeches 

 and Discussions. 



Written for theAnicrtcan Bee Journal 

 BY C. P. DADANT. 



HONEY PLANTS. 



A member^Will it pay to plant for 

 honey ? 



Dr. Miller — Some weeds are fit for 

 nothing but honey-producing, and we 

 can direct bee-keepers to the places 

 where they grow abundantly, but it 

 certainly does not pay to grow these 

 plants for honey alone. 



Question ; "Is the Chapman honey- 

 plant really worth cultivation ?'' 



A. I. Root — The Chapman honey- 

 plant gives lots of honey, but I do not 

 believe it will pay to plant it. Better 

 go where honey-plants grow naturally. 

 Dr. Miller — I do not believe the 

 Chapman honey-plant produces as 

 much honey as it has credit for. 



A. N. Draper — I have seen a Rockj- 

 Mountain bee-plant with o5 bees on it 

 at one time, and have noticed that the 

 bees filled up their hives very rapidly 

 on it. where a great dpal was grown. 



L. C. Axtell — Bees work hard on the 

 Chapman hone3'-plant. and get a great 

 deal of honey from it. but I do not 

 believe it will pay to grow it; even 

 buckwheat does not pay as a honey- 

 plant, as it is not regular in its yield. 

 Even white clover often fails, as a 

 honej-plant. when the gi'ound is cov- 

 ered with its bloom. I have seen times 

 when there was considerable honey, 

 when the blossoms were not as abun- 

 dant as usual. It depends altogether 

 on atmospheric circumstances. 



Dr. Miller said that there were sev- 

 eral kinds of Spanish-needles, and 

 a.sked which furnislied the most honey. 

 J. M. Hambaugh said that it was the 

 kind that produced the wide Ijurr, that 

 gave the honey. 



A. N. Draper said that the Spanish- 

 needles from whifji his bees harvested 

 ho'iej'. had no burrs at all. 



Daniel E. Robbins. of Payson. Ills., 

 said that he believed that there was 

 not any difference between the Spanish- 

 needles, except that which was caused 

 by the different circumstances of their 

 growth. Where the plants grew very 

 thick, they had no burrs ; while, in 

 other places, burrs were very large. 



H. Kellogg, of Alexandria. Mo., said 

 that the .Spanish-needles that produced 

 honey liad petals, exactly in the shape 

 of those of the sunflower. 



J. M. Hambaugh said that his bees 

 gathered very large crops of honey from 

 the Spanish-needles. One colony had 

 harvested 73 pounds from it. in 5 days. 



W. F. Clarke asked A. I. Root 

 whether there were any Spanish-need- 

 les in Ohio ? 



A. I. Root — Yes. in swampy places. 



Mrs. Hollingsworth — Heart's-ease 

 generally gives a great deal of honey, 

 but this year there was very little from 

 it. Why ? 



J. D. Adams — For the same reason 

 that other flowers failed in their yield. 

 The weather was against it. I have 

 not seen any flowers but what will 

 pi'oduce honey, under very favorable 

 circumstances, while none will yield 

 any. in bad seasons. 



SUGAR SYRUP FOR WINTER FOOD. 



A. O. Calhoun, of Victor. Mo., said : 

 ■■ We are engaged in the production 

 of honey. May we not infer from 

 what has been said, that it would pay 

 to take off the honej' and feed back 

 sugar syi-up ? 



A. I. Root — I would not advise any 

 man to take oft" hone}-, so as to feed 

 sugar syrup. Besides the trouble of 

 extracting the honey and feeding, there 

 is a loss in the secretion of wax. which 

 is sure to follow, and there would 

 have to be a big difterence between 

 the price of honey and that of sugar. 

 Do not take oft' the honey to feed 

 sugar. Let it alone. 



INTRODUCING VIRGIN QUEENS. 



A member asked : Can an apiary 

 be Italianized by daubing a young 

 queen with hone}', and then dropping 

 her into a colonj' just after a swarm 

 has issued ? 



After some discussion it was said 

 that a virgin queen was intended by 

 tlie one who asked the question. 



Eugene Secor thought that it would 

 work, but he was not sure that the 

 young qneeo would destroy the queen- 

 cells, and. in such a case, the bees 

 might swarm again with this young 

 queen. 



Dr. Miller thouglit it would work, 

 but in many cases he thought bees 

 acted like the mule of which Josh 

 Billings said : "If you want it to stay 

 in the field, put it in your neighbors' 

 field, and let it jump in." 



President Taylor said that there was 

 no necessity of daubingher with honey, 

 and that if she was introduced at once, 

 after swarming, before the colony re- 

 cuperated its numbers by hatching 

 bees, the bees would tear down its 

 queen-cells. 



CLOSE SPACING FOR BROOD-FRAMES. 



A. N. Draper said : "This season I placed 



9 frames in the brood chamber, and only 8 



frames in each of the two upper stories. 



All the hives were of the same pattern, 12 



